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School Meals Program

January 2024

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USDA Policy Memos, from USDA, are located at the bottom!

Welcome to 2025 Trivia! What happens if you put old eggs in cold water? Answer: found within the bulletin, below!

School Meals Program Reminders: 

Claims - Submit claim data online through the CNP Web Database by: 

• November Claim Month - 60 Day Deadline, January 29, 2025
• December Claim Month - 60 Day Deadline, March 3, 2025
• The final claim will not be accepted if it is not in the Pending Approval status by the 60-Day claim deadline (see below).  Upward amended claims may be submitted throughout the 60-day period but no later than the 60-Day deadline.  Be aware, claims in Error status cannot be paid and if help is needed from Child Nutrition the sponsor must contact Child Nutrition well in advance of the 60-Day Deadline.

ISNL Cohort - School Meals Program ISNL Cohort, February 11, 2025 @ 2:30 PM

Roundtable - School Meals Program Roundtable, February 12, 2025 @ 2:00 PM

School Meals Program Updates:

Updated Medical Statement

Q&A attached to SP 07 2025, clarifies that program operators have the option to implement accepting medical statements from Registered Dietitians before the July 1, 2025, deadline, but are not required to.

The updated version of the medical statement is located alphabetically under School Year 2024 - 2025 at: School Nutrition Programs - Education and Early Development

Forms Submission Studio

Sponsors are currently working on submitting the following:

• FNS-742 Verification Collection Reports - due by February 1st
• On-Site Counting & Claiming Reviews - due by February 15th (Small districts can submit their reviews singly and the bulk form for large districts is located on the CNP Web checklist tab.)

There are two areas forms get submitted at the link provided below:

• Document Upload Center
• SNP-Specific Links

Link to Submission Studio: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=2abde163feff43ec8047b8191a665550

2025 Alaska Food Protection Task Force Educational Workshop

Registration is now open for the 2025 Alaska Food Protection Task Force Educational Workshop. This annual event provides current training and technical information for industry, partner organizations, and others interested in food safety.

This year the workshop will be held virtually on Monday, February 3, and Tuesday, February 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each day.

REGISTER NOW

Topics will include:

• Food safety and traditional foods
• Hepatitis A at food establishments
• Food waste
• Safety for donated foods
• And more…!

Award Recognition

Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards

The Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards recognizes Petersburg School District! 

Award: Innovative School Lunch Makeover

FNS Requests Public Comment on Pilot Projects: Tribes to Administer Child Nutrition Programs Comments received in response to this request for information will inform the application process, eligibility and selection criteria, for the Child Nutrition Tribal Pilot Projects.  Comments are due by March 24, 2025. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, (P.L. 118-42) provided $2 million for pilot projects for Tribes to administer Child Nutrition Programs, assuming the roles and responsibilities typically held by State agencies.  The link to the public inspection page on the Federal Register can be found here: www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2024-30577/request-for-information-child-nutrition-programs-tribal-pilot-projects.

FNS Request for Information: Grain-Based Desserts and High-Protein Yogurt Crediting in Child Nutrition Programs FNS is seeking input on the questions below.  You can click the “Submit a Public Comment" button located in the upper right corner to access the comment form in the page located here: Request for Information: Grain-Based Desserts and High-Protein Yogurt Crediting in Child Nutrition Programs  Comments are due on March 26, 2025.

SNA NEWS - links below brought to you by School Nutrition Association

Help spread the word about the benefits of healthy school meals

1 in 8 kids in America live in a household without consistent access to adequate food. School lunches don’t just keep kids healthy–they keep kids from being hungry so they can learn. The Made with School Lunch campaign, from SNA and the National Dairy Council, brings awareness to the massive need for school meals—and how school meals make it possible for all kids to do the most important thing of all... grow up! Check out the videos, graphics, posters and social media posts to help you get the word out.

Unleash your creativity in 2025 with SNA's Promo Calendar

Kick off 2025 in spectacular fashion with SNA's Promo Calendar! It's filled with month-long, week-long and single-day holidays and events to help you brighten your school meal program. Download the Calendar and get ready for a new year filled with amazing cafeteria celebrations!

Unpaid school meal debt rises despite more free meals

Unpaid school meal debt rose 26% in 2024 to a median of $6,900 per district, according to a survey by the School Nutrition Association. More districts are offering free meals, with 63% providing free breakfast and 56% offering free lunch, driven by the Community Eligibility Provision and state programs.

Resources

Answer: they float!

CHILD NUTRITION (CN) LABEL

The Child Nutrition (CN) Labeling Manual is available online. The CN Labeling Manual provides food manufacturers with instructions on how to apply for and obtain approval for a Child Nutrition (CN) label. It also contains instructions for calculating the contribution that meats, meat alternates, poultry, and seafood products make toward the meal pattern requirements for Child Nutrition Programs (CNP). CN labels are approved by USDA and provide a way for a manufacturer to demonstrate how a processed food product contributes to the meal pattern requirements in CNP.

FOOD BUYING GUIDE (FBG)

The Food Buying Guide includes CNP interactive web-based tools that are available in the Tools menu option on the toolbar. 

ICN's CICN SECTION The ICN section of training, Culinary Institute of Child Nutrition, is great for schools wanting to scratch cook or cooks needing additional culinary skills: https://theicn.org/cicn/ iLearn – ICN E-learning (docebosaas.com).  Child Nutrition Sharing Site (CNSS) - recruiting new resources.

SNA NEWS

Check out SNA's on-demand webinars

Catch up on educational content and earn CEU credits to achieve your professional goals with the SNA Training Zone! 

TEAM NUTRITION Identifying Top Sources of Added Sugars and Simple Swaps - The Road to Successful Menu Planning for School Meals The Road to Successful Menu Planning for School Meals, is here to help schools plan and implement menus that support updates to the school nutrition standards.  The newest on-demand training covers identifying top sources of added sugars and simple swaps and is only 15 minutes! Trainings that count toward USDA Professional Standards for School Nutrition Programs, Key Area 1000: Nutrition and Training Topic 1100: Menu Planning.  They are available now in the Institute of Child Nutrition’s iLearn portal and USDA’s Professional Standards Training Database. Such as: Identifying Top Sources of Added Sugars and Simple Swaps Stay Connected  Sign up to receive Team Nutrition updates in English and in Spanish.

USDA POLICY MEMOS

Regulation requires sponsoring organizations and institutions to keep Bulletins, Instructions, and USDA Policy Memorandums for reference and to apply immediately the appropriate instruction to agency programs. Please call Child Nutrition Programs, if further clarification is needed.

All Policy Memos from USDA can be located here:

SP 08-2025 Non-Congregate Meal Service in Rural Areas: Questions and Answers #3

SP 07-2025 Requirement to Accept Medical Statements from Registered Dietitians for Schools

SP 06-2025 National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance Grants: Installation Expenditure

SP 05-2025 Guidance for Accepting Processed Product Documentation for Meal Pattern Requirements

SP 04-2025 Fees for Electronic Payment Services in the School Meal Programs

SP 03-2025 Substituting Vegetables for Grains in American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Tribal Communities

SP 02-2025 Substitution of Vegetables for Fruit Flexibility in the School Breakfast Program: Questions and Answers for Program Operators

SP 01-2025 Fluid Milk Requirements for School Meals

Contact Us

Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
Division of Finance and Support Services
Child Nutrition Programs
P.O. Box 110500
Juneau, AK 99811

Disclaimer

This newsletter contains hyperlinks to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the reader’s convenience. DEED does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this outside information. Furthermore, the inclusion of links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed, or products or services offered, on these sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites.

Confidential Information

Confidential information should never be shared via email outside of the SFA’s email system.  Since email can easily be transmitted to the wrong recipient or intercepted by a third party, it could lead to a breach of confidential information.  When emailing Alaska Child Nutrition Programs, sponsors are encouraged to make arrangements with the recipient(s) to email documents with Zend To (https://drop.state.ak.us/drop/).  Please contact DEED CNP for further information.

USDA Nondiscrimination Statement (English)

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

      1. mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil                    Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or

      2. fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or

      3. email: program.intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.