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School Meals Program

July 2025 

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

2025 Food Fact Trivia! Humans share 50% of their DNA with which fruit? Answer: found within the bulletin, below!

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears."

Registration for Summer 2025 School Nutrition Program Training is here!

Training will be offered virtually only this year.

July 22, 2025 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM (first half of training)

July 23, 2025 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM (second half of training)

Registration info:

School Nutrition Programs Annual Training, Day 1 | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams

School Nutrition Programs Annual Training, Day 2 | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams

*Please note: We will have a special session at the end of the second day for an open Q&A. We encourage you to send questions ahead of time so we can find the right panelists to participate in this session. Please send topic/question requests to eed.cnp.schoolmeals@alaska.gov.

Training for New and Aspiring Directors:

School Nutrition Directors and Business Managers will receive a registration link and are responsible for assigning staff to attend this training, if they feel it beneficial.

July 31, 2025 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM

Registration info: 

New and Aspiring Directors Training, School Nutrition Programs, July 31, 2025 | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams

Reminder regarding contact information

As a reminder, all emails regarding school nutrition programs should be directed to eed.cnp.schoolmeals@alaska.gov.  Emails sent to other mailboxes may not receive a timely response.

For other program contacts, see the list at the end of this email.

School Meals Program Reminders: 

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

• May Claim Month - 60 Day Deadline, July 30, 2025
• June Claim Month - 60 Day Deadline, August 29, 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.

School Nutrition Program Monthly Call, August 13, 2025 @ 2:00 PM.

There will be no monthly call in July, but we will resume in August.

Link: Alaska School Nutrition Program Monthly Call | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams

SY25/26 CNP Web Applications now OPEN!

Application Checklist and Instructions.docx 

USDA Non-Discrimination Statement 

Executive Order 14168 regarding the definition of “sex”

Executive Order 14168 reverses guidance issued regarding the definition of “sex”.  USDA has not yet issued updated guidance or issued new posters (printed or electronic).

The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) continues to publish material using the USDA Nondiscrimination that was published prior to 20 January 2025.  Sponsors are encouraged to follow official USDA guidance which is to utilize the “And Justice For All” (AFJA) poster and nondiscrimination statement published as of that date.

Sponsors may adopt the interim nondiscrimination statement found on the USDA web site.  DEED will not issue findings or require corrective action.

Sponsors must prominently display the “and Justice for All” poster.  Sponsors must comply with this requirement by displaying:

• The AFJA poster in the original form on 11 × 17 in. poster, in color,
• An unaltered facsimile of the AFJA on letter-size paper (8 1/2 × 11 in) color, grayscale, or monochrome, or
• The interim USDA Nondiscrimination Statement

Sponsors may only use the current USDA Nondiscrimination Statement (published as for 20 January 2025) or the Interim version.  No other alterations are approved.  Sponsors may not use the nondiscrimination statement or AFJA posters from prior to 2022.

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

School Meal Recipe Workshop: From Concept to Standardization

What does it take to create a student-approved, standardized recipe for school meals? This five-day virtual workshop walks school nutrition professionals through the complete USDA Recipe Standardization Process—from initial concept to implementation. Participants will gain hands-on experience in scaling, preparing, tasting, evaluating, and crediting recipes. The training highlights key tools such as the Food Buying Guide (FBG) and the Recipe Analysis Workbook (RAW) while providing strategies to engage students and the school community in recipe development.

Click HERE for link to workshop.

Intended Audience: School Nutrition Professionals

Subject: Culinary Skills/Recipe Standardization

Key Area: 1–Nutrition, 2–Operations, 4–Communications and Marketing
Professional Standards Code(s): 1100, 2100, 4100

Want More Stress in Your Life?

Stay up to date with the latest bills related to School Nutrition by subscribing to the "Tuesday Morning" newsletter by SNA! It is very informative and a good read.

Resources

CHILD NUTRITION (CN) LABEL

The Child Nutrition (CN) Labeling Manual is available online.  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 Child Nutrition Programs CNP.  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 (CNP). 

CHILD NUTRITION SHARING SITE 

Child Nutrition Sharing Site (CNSS) - recruiting new resources.

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 E-learning

iLearn – ICN E-learning (docebosaas.com)

ICN's CICN TRAINING SECTION The Culinary Institute of Child Nutrition (CICN) training section, is great for schools wanting to scratch cook or gain additional culinary skills: https://theicn.org/cicn/

SNA TRAINING ZONE

Check out SNA's on-demand webinars

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

TEAM NUTRITION 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 16-2025 Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program: Allocation of Funds for FY 2026

SP 15-2025 Enhancing Child Nutrition Program Meal Standards

SP 14-2025 Offer versus Serve Flexibilities for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program

SP 13-2025 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025: Effect on Child Nutrition Programs

SP 12-2025 Paid Lunch Equity: Guidance for School Year 2025-2026

SP 11-2025 Using Federal Funds to Purchase Local Foods

SP 09-2025 Buy American Accommodation Process for School Year 2025-2026

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

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

Contact Us

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, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the State or local Agency that administers the program or contact USDA through the Telecommunications Relay Service at 711 (voice and TTY). Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Mail Stop 9410, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.