Confusion about P-EBT eligibility for LAUSD Virtual Academy students in 2025

my daughter was in LAUSD virtual last year and we got the PEBT no problem, something doesn't sound right with what they told u

The P-EBT program for 2024-2025 has different rules than previous years. For virtual students to qualify, the school must be officially participating in the National School Lunch Program AND have submitted the proper documentation to CDSS confirming virtual status. Some virtual academies haven't completed this paperwork correctly. I recommend: 1. Contact LAUSD Virtual Academy administration directly (not just the general P-EBT hotline) 2. Ask specifically if they've submitted the "Virtual Learning P-EBT Certification Form" to the state 3. Request they provide you with the P-EBT liaison's contact information for your school If your child qualifies for free/reduced lunch, they should be eligible, but the school needs to have properly documented their virtual status.

I'm dealing with EXACT same issue!!! My two kids are in LAUSD Virtual and we haven't received P-EBT either. Called three times and got different answers each time. Last person said system doesn't recognize the school code for virtual academy?? But our neighbors kid got it and he's in same program!!! The whole system is so BROKEN.

This happens every year with P-EBT, unfortunately. When I worked at the county, we saw this issue constantly with virtual schools. The problem is usually that the school hasn't properly classified students in the state database as "virtual learners." You'll need to: 1. Confirm your child's free/reduced lunch status is current in the system 2. Get documentation from LAUSD Virtual confirming enrollment and virtual status 3. File a formal P-EBT dispute if benefits don't arrive by next month P-EBT benefits for 2024-2025 are being issued on a rolling basis through July 2025, so some students haven't received theirs yet. The dispute form is available at cdss.ca.gov/pebt.

have you tried calling the actual PEBT hotline instead of calfresh? they're different systems and the calfresh people often give wrong info about PEBT. the number is 877-328-9677 for the real PEBT line

If you're having trouble reaching someone at the P-EBT hotline, you might want to try Claimyr. I was dealing with this exact LAUSD virtual academy P-EBT issue last month and was getting disconnected constantly when calling. A friend recommended Claimyr (claimyr.com) and they got me connected to a real person at the P-EBT office in about 15 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8 The P-EBT rep confirmed my daughter's eligibility and found that there was a coding error with her school classification. They fixed it and we got the card 2 weeks later.

btw make sure ur sons free lunch application is current!! my neighbor didnt get pebt because they forgot to fill out the form this year even though they qualified last year

my kid goes to regular school not virtual and we still haven't got our pebt card either lol... whole system is a mess this year

UPDATE: I called the actual P-EBT hotline (not CalFresh) and after waiting for almost an hour, I finally got through! The representative confirmed that LAUSD Virtual Academy IS participating in P-EBT, but there was some kind of system error with how virtual students were being coded. She said they're aware of the issue and working on fixing it for all affected students. Apparently, benefits should be issued by the end of next month for everyone affected by this coding problem. She added a note to our case to make sure we don't get missed. Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions!