Meals are free here. The form still counts.

The online form is inside Skyward Family Access. Paper forms are on the district forms page and at every school office; return them to any office.

To count for this school year, the form needs to be in by Thursday, September 24. The state's count is taken on Thursday, October 1, and approvals take up to ten working days.

Why fill it out when meals are already free?

Every student at Beacon and Simpson eats breakfast and lunch free. That is paid for by Washington's Meals for Washington Students program, which applies to elementary schools where at least 30 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The percentage is checked every year, and the only way the district can show it is through the forms families return and the state's benefit matches.

So the form does two jobs at once. It tells the state how many Montesano students qualify, which decides funding for reading and math help and keeps the elementary schools eligible for free meals. And it opens benefits for your family that nothing else opens.

Should we fill it out? Probably.

Pick your household size. If your household's total income before taxes is at or below the line for 2026–27, fill it out. Many working families are surprised how high the line is.

Fill it out no matter what your income is if:

• Anyone in your household gets Basic Food (SNAP), TANF, or FDPIR. Write the case number; you can skip the income section entirely.
• Your child is in foster care, is homeless, is a migrant student, or is enrolled in Head Start. These children qualify automatically.
• You are not sure whether you qualify. Returning the form is how the count gets complete, even when the answer turns out to be no.

What your family gets from an approved form

• SUN Bucks: $120 per child for summer groceries.
  Washington's Summer EBT benefit goes to children approved for free or reduced-price meals, including at schools where meals are already free. No separate application when a form is on file.
• Sports, ASB, club, field-trip, game, and dance fees waived.
  State law requires it for approved students (RCW 28A.325.010). Waivers are not retroactive, so file the form before you pay. How it works is on the fee-waivers page. Fee waivers →
• Running Start fees waived.
  Approval from any of the last five years counts (RCW 28A.600.310).
• AP exam fee reductions, SAT and ACT fee waivers, and college application fee waivers.
  College Board, ACT, and the Common App all key their waivers to a student's own free or reduced-price status, not to the school.
• College Bound Scholarship enrollment.
  Students who qualify in 7th or 8th grade are enrolled automatically.
• Free or reduced-price meals at MJSHS.
  Full price there is $2.75 for breakfast and $3.75 for lunch. Approved students eat free in grades K–12.
• Low-cost home internet.
  Several providers accept free or reduced-price meal status for their discounted plans; ask the provider that serves your address.

What our schools get

Reading and math help. Washington's Learning Assistance Program funds extra small-group instruction in proportion to the number of students counted as eligible on the first business day of October. The count is exactly the number of approved forms plus state benefit matches, no more. Since 2026–27 there is no cushion: fewer forms means less help the following year.

Free meals that stay free. Meals for Washington Students requires at least 30 percent. In the most recent final state report, Simpson's count was about 33 percent, a few points above the line. Every returned form keeps that margin honest.

Discounts on school internet and eligibility for state and federal grants that use the same count.

A truthful picture of who we serve, in the state report card and in every program decision that uses it.

What the form asks, and what it doesn't

• One form per household, every child on it, once each school year. You can file any day of the year; approvals come in writing within ten working days.
• If you list a Basic Food, TANF, or FDPIR case number, that is all the office needs: no income, no Social Security number.
• Otherwise: the names of everyone in the household, income by source, and the last four digits of one adult's Social Security number. If that adult has no Social Security number, check the box that says so. No pay stubs or documents are attached.
• The form does not ask about citizenship or immigration status; federal rules do not allow that question. The district uses your answers only to decide eligibility and for the education programs listed on the form itself.
• Federal rules forbid identifying eligible students at school in any way. Teachers, classmates, and other families do not know who qualifies. The school office and the food-service staff who process forms are the only people who see them.

Questions families ask

We don't qualify. Why bother?

Two reasons. If you are near the line, you may be wrong; the checker above shows this year's number. And returning the form when the answer is no still makes the count complete, which is what the funding depends on.

Does this change my child's free meals at Beacon or Simpson?

No. Meals stay free for every student there whatever the form says. The form affects funding and your family's other benefits, not the lunch line.

I did this last year.

Approvals expire. Last year's status carries over only for the first weeks of school, and then the new year's form is what counts.

I don't want to give a Social Security number.

Only the last four digits of one adult's number are asked, and a case number replaces it entirely. If the signing adult has no Social Security number, check the box; the form is still valid.

We are not citizens.

The form does not ask about citizenship or immigration status, and the district does not use it for anything except the programs listed on the form. If you have questions about how benefits interact with your immigration situation, a legal-aid organization can advise you; the school cannot.

Will anyone at school know?

No. Federal rules forbid identifying eligible students in any way. Fee waivers are applied by the office without anything visible to other students.

My child moved up to MJSHS. Do I need a new form?

One form per household covers every school. A form approved at Beacon or Simpson also covers a sibling at MJSHS.

I need help filling it out.

Any school office will sit with you for five minutes, in English or Spanish, at drop-off or pick-up. Or call the numbers below.

Questions about the form

Cindy Wecker · (360) 249-3942, ext. 1237 · cwecker@monteschools.org
Sheila Baker · (360) 249-3942, ext. 1235 · sbaker@monteschools.org