This is a reminder to all Local Education Agencies (LEAs) operating the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and/or School Breakfast Program (SBP) to upload any remaining 2025 SUN Bucks eligibility data to the Supplemental SUN Bucks Data Collection (SSBC) in the Education Data Collection System (EDCS) no later than 5 p.m. on December 31, 2025.
EDCS will not accept 2025 SUN Bucks data after this deadline.
For reference, 2025 SUN Bucks eligibility records derived from the sources below with start dates between July 1, 2024, and September 2, 2025, must be uploaded to EDCS:
- Approved NSLP Meal Applications (Standard Counting and Claiming sites and Provision 2 sites)
- Approved Universal Benefits Applications (Community Eligibility Provision sites and Provision 2 sites)
- Local Direct Certification (all sites)
- Extended Benefits (all sites)
All LEAs participating in the NSLP and/or the SBP will need to upload student eligibility data to EDCS based on one or more of the above sources.
181 and 182 Free or Reduced Price Meal (FRPM) records will not be extracted from the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) for 2025 SUN Bucks eligibility.
The need for SSBC uploads in EDCS is not limited to sites operating the NSLP/SBP on a federal provision (Community Eligibility Provision [CEP] or Provision 2). Standard Counting and Claiming sites must upload records from approved NSLP meal applications within the 2025 SUN Bucks eligibility period to EDCS.
Submitting comprehensive and accurate data from these sources helps ensure that eligible students receive SUN Bucks benefits. Please review your data carefully before submission.
Resources to support accurate reporting are available here:
- Please visit the CDE CALPADS Flash #297 webpage
- Please visit the California Department of Education (CDE) SSBC Data Collection Instructions webpage
If you have questions regarding the upload process or encounter any issues, please contact the EDCS support team at CALPADS-Support@cde.ca.gov.
If you have general SUN Bucks questions, please contact the CDE Nutrition Services Division at SummerEBT@cde.ca.gov.
Thank you for your continued partnership and for your efforts to support students and families across California.