Is Your Organization Planning to Operate SFSP/SSO through June?
If your SFSP/SSO site calendars were submitted prior to the release of CNR #56 which allows SFSP/SSO operation through the end of the school year, you may need to revise your site calendar(s).
Your meal service may currently be approved through December 31. You must complete the following by December 31, 2020:
- Make a calendar revision to extend operations through the end of the school year. You must revise your SY 20-21 WINS calendar(s) to reflect June 30, 2021 as your last calendar day.
- Notify your program specialist.
NOTE: Calendar extensions submitted after December 31, 2020, may not be approved. Meals are required to be served during the state agency approved dates and times per 7 CFR 225.16.
Providing Meals for the Holiday Breaks?
Ensure non-operating days in your SY 20-21 WINS Calendar(s) are updated prior to meal service.
Changed your Meal Service Operation?
Submit a new Meal Distribution Plan to reflect your updated meal service models.
Adding or Removing Meal Service Sites?
A site application and calendar should be submitted for new meal service sites. The end date in the site calendar should be revised for sites that will cease operations.
Questions? Contact your Program Specialist.
The Organizations Providing Meals During COVID-19 Shutdown Map is an interactive map that connects families to district and organization websites for more information regarding meal services near them.
OSPI will not be updating the No Kid Hungry Site Locator Map nor the USDA Site Locator Map during the school year.
NOTE: This map only works on modern browsers such as Firefox, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge; it will not work on Internet Explorer.
Not Serving Meals Through SFSP?
If you are no longer proving meals through SFSP, but your organization’s website is still linked to our map, please email Mikhail.Cherniske@k12.wa.us to have the link removed.
New law aimed at increasing access to extracurricular activities.
Back in March the legislature passed House Bill 1660. The new law works to remove obstacles to high school students participating in extracurricular activities. In addition to new data requirements, HB 1660 focuses on removing the barrier of costs.
With this new law, LEA’s who charge a fee for attendance at, or participation in any optional, noncredit extracurricular event must now adopt a policy of waiving these fees for students in grades 9-12 who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. This fee removal should be streamlined.
Our new resource explains the purpose of the legislation and what must be done to implement the law, including the three main steps that child nutrition should take to reduce barriers. It also includes sample language that can be used on the parental consent forms.
We recently released the Promoting the Family Income Survey Update and the It's More Than a Meal Application Update, which shared the more information about these tools. For more details, please review the updates in full. Here are some highlights:
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Why are these tools important? The Family Income Survey and Meal Applications help to collect important income data.
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Does the “pause” in 30-Day Carryover apply to Family Income Surveys? OSPI is allowing a “pause” of the Family Income Survey eligibility roll-over while districts operate Summer programs to be consistent with USDA flexibilities.
Reminder
We encourage districts to continue to collect and process meal applications and Family Income Surveys as this data will provide a current picture of the economic impact to student households. In an effort to support districts, OSPI launched the It’s More Than a Meal Application and It’s More Than the Family Income Survey toolkits. These toolkits are designed to help districts promote the importance of families filling out and returning these forms. Materials are located on the OSPI Child Nutrition Services webpages.
Questions? Please contact your program specialist.
Sign Up for the New Webinar Series!
We will see you every other week until December 16!
Districts offering the National School Lunch Program (NSLP)/ School Breakfast Program (SBP), and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) this fall are encouraged to join us for these webinars.
You must register for this NEW series.
Register Here
When? Every Other Wednesday
Dates? November 18, December 2, December 16
Time? 2 - 3 pm PT
Reminders
- Save us on Your Calendar! When you register, there is an option to add us to your calendar at the bottom of the confirmation email.
- A reminder email with your link to log into the webinar is sent 1 hour before the session starts.
- Weekly follow up emails with a copy of the slides are sent to everyone registered for the session, even if they did not attend.
- We do not post recordings to the CNS webpages.
- Please keep an eye out in your inbox for these emails, if you do not see them in your inbox please check your SPAM box.
Miss last week? You can review last week's recording at this link.
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USDA Q&A #3 Updates
On November 2, 2020, USDA Released SP 04, CACFP 03, SFSP 03-2021 - Questions and Answers Relating to the Nationwide Waiver to Allow Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option Operations through School Year 2020-21 - Extension - Q&As #3.
This memo provided clarification on verification requirements for SY 20-21. All LEAs that collected school meal applications during SY 2020-2021 are required to conduct verification based on the number of approved applications as of October 1. Although schools may have transitioned to SFSP/SSO operations, verification is still necessary and required.
The Verification Process
Verification is the process of confirming free and reduced-price meal eligibility based on the meal application. Usually, the verification process begins each year on October 1 and concludes on November 15. For SY 20-21, the verification process begins on October 1 and concludes on February 28, 2021.
The Verification Summary Report (VSR) due date and instructions for completing the report will be provided before the report opens in WINS December 10, 2020.
Please review our Verification update for more resources and details about completing this process.
Updated Materials Now Available!
Updated materials are located under the 'Verification of Applications' dropdown on the NSLP Meal Applications and Verification webpage. Materials include:
- Entering the VSR in WINS Training
- Reference Sheets
- Timeline and Instruction Sheets
- Tools to help you complete Verification
- Letters for households in English and Spanish on the OSPI webpages. Additional languages are available on USDA's website.
Questions about the verification process? Please contact your program specialist.
October Building Data must be collected from all schools that would normally operate the NSLP/SBP/SMP during the school year. even if a summer meal program is currently being operated.
OBD Must be Entered for All School Sites
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Sponsors currently operating the NSLP/SBP should follow the steps outlined in the NSLP/SBP MDP Sponsor Checklist to ensure their renewal application is complete. OBD should be entered with the October claim for reimbursement. The applicable bulletins and addendums provide additional details on the renewal process.
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Sponsors currently operating the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) or Seamless Summer Option (SSO) All School Sponsors must submit their NSLP/SBP renewal application and create SY20-21 NSLP schedules for ALL school sites to ensure accurate OBD is collected for SY20-21. This includes school sites that may or may not be operating Summer programs this school year that would normally operate NSLP. When submitting the site calendar, sponsors should: Is this the same info as if I clicked on the link to past updates? If so, I would take this out or leave in and take the reference to past updates.
- Add a NSLP schedule for one day, October 31, 2020, including estimates of the Free, Reduced-Price, and Paid participation in the schedule.
- With the exception of October 31, ensure the start date for the NSLP schedule does not overlap with the SFSP/SSO schedule.
- Enter OBD in the October claim screen.
- When submitting the October claim for reimbursement, zeroes (0) should be entered for the NSLP/SBP meal counts. An error message will populate in the claim – please disregard this error message.
- The applicable SFSP/SSO Renewal Checklist provides additional details on the renewal process.
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Sponsors currently operating the SMP should follow the steps outlined in the applicable bulletins and addendums to ensure their renewal application is complete. OBD should be entered with the October claim for reimbursement.
Questions about how to enter OBD in SY 20-21? Please contact your program specialist.
We recently shared information regarding the last training sessions for the PrimeroEdge Menu Planning Nutrient Analysis (MPNA) software. There's still time to use this product at no cost!
Please review our recent update for more information.
Our last training sessions will be:
- November 19 & 20
- The first quarter of 2021 (date TBD)
How to Sign Up
Visit our PrimeroEdge MPNA software website to request a demo to sign up for training. We will then get you signed up for the 2-day training session of your choice! But you might want to hurry - class space is limited to 25 participants!
SNA’s recent virtual Director’s Best Practices Conference is now on-demand!
You can take advantage of all the amazing learning opportunities and helpful resources shared during the conference. This conference focused on the best ideas to feed kids in response to virtual and blended learning environments and staggered academic schedules—all while using innovative classroom, curbside and other service delivery models.
Discover what’s working to feed kids right now with information about current trends, financial sustainability, safety, sanitation and other critical issues presented and shared by 25 different speakers.
Learn more and purchase access here!
Earn a continuing education certificate by joining the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) for their monthly STAR webinar!
Stronger Together: Highlights of School Nutrition Heroes Across the Nation
Register Here
Date: Thursday, November 19
Time: 12 - 1 pm PT
Since the onset of the worldwide pandemic and school closures, school nutrition professionals have taken action from interruptions in their typical daily operations and created innovative, alternate plans to provide meals to our nation’s children. During this month’s webinar, ICN will recognize unspoken heroes across the nation and highlight stories of how school nutrition programs are serving meals during these unprecedented times.
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November 18
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SY20-21 Food Service Operations for NSLP and SFSP Sponsors Webinar - Register Here
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November 30
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Last day to submit your September claims! 60-Day Claim Deadline
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