Record Keeping
The end of the school year is the best time to pull together records and documentation that need to be filed together and retained for multiple years. Ensure that files are kept in an organized fashion and easily identifiable. Past years’ records must be easily accessible to staff members in order to provide to field specialists during an administrative review. Refer to the Recordkeeping Resource for a detailed list of retention guidelines.
2022-2023 Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program School of the Year
On Tuesday, May 23, the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) School of the Year Award was presented to Parker Elementary School of New Castle Community School Corporation by IDOE.
The food service department received a framed certificate and aprons printed with the FFVP School of the Year logo from IDOE. Piazza Produce provided a check for $250.
Dee Orick, director of food and nutrition services for the corporation, and Principal Lora Wilson, nominated Parker Elementary School for the award. Wilson stated the food service program has been steadfast in finding unique fruits and vegetables to present to the students. Orick added the staff and faculty have been great cheerleaders for the program.
This is the sixth year IDOE has sponsored the FFVP School of the Year award, which recognizes schools for creating a healthier school environment by providing fresh fruits and vegetables to students.
School Year Second Issuance
Pandemic EBT (PEBT) distributions for reported COVID-19 absences for school-age students covering the second half of the school year (January through May) will be issued in the coming weeks. Due to the expiration of the Federal Public Health Emergency, which ended on Thursday, May 11, school days starting on and after Friday, May 12, are not eligible for PEBT benefits. Any updates or corrections to dates covered by the earlier distribution (July through December) will be included in the second distribution if additional data has been submitted in Data Exchange.
This distribution is only for reported COVID-19 related absences. Unlike the summer 2022 issuance for all students eligible for free or reduced-price meals, the school year issuance only covers specific COVID-19 related absences for eligible students, with a benefit amount of $8.18 per day absent.
Benefits will be loaded onto existing PEBT cards. If a student has not received benefits in the past, new cards will be mailed and should arrive within one to two weeks of the issuance date. If a replacement PEBT card is needed, it must be requested from the PEBT website, not from the EBT customer service number on the back of EBT cards.
Additional information is available on FSSA's PEBT webpage.
Summer Issuance
There will be a “summer PEBT” issuance of $120 per eligible student issued this summer. Estimated timeframes for issuance are available on FSSA's PEBT webpage. Summer benefits will be issued to all students eligible for free or reduced meals at eligible National School Lunch Program-participating schools. For Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) schools, all students will receive this benefit. For non-CEP schools, it is very important to begin reviewing and confirming that free and reduced-price lunch programs are correctly submitted for all eligible students in Data Exchange.
Student Program Associations records can be reviewed using the Operational Data Store Review function at the top of the Submission tab in the Data Exchange Validation portal by selecting StudentProgramAssociation in the dropdown and exporting. Additional information is available on FSSA’s PEBT webpage.
End of Year Reminders
As we approach the end of the school year, here are some end-of-year reminders, including important dates and deadlines school sponsors should follow for effective USDA Foods inventory management and use of Department of Defense (DoD) Fresh Fruits and Vegetables allocations and entitlement funds.
USDA Foods Surplus is Available for All State-Assigned Warehouses
IDOE is in the process of clearing USDA Foods out of all state-assigned warehouses. USDA Foods surplus is available for school sponsors on the Food Distribution Program. If your school is interested in attempting to retrieve surplus items, please navigate to CNPweb under the FDP link, and then click the Add Surplus button listed under the Allocations tab to see if surplus USDA Foods are still available.
Direct Delivered USDA Foods and Department of Defense (DoD) Funds Will Be Lost After Friday, June 30
Now is the time to remove USDA Foods from the state-assigned warehouses and processors, as well as spend USDA DoD Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program funds before Friday, June 30. USDA Foods are intended to be utilized during the school year allocated. IDOE will sweep all Direct Delivered (Brown Box) USDA Foods from school inventories as of Friday, June 30.
Civil Rights and Ethics Training Courses: Please Print Certificates from Moodle
Sponsors are required to take the civil rights and ethics training courses annually. Because of this annual training requirement, IDOE will conduct a reset of these courses for program year 2024 in Moodle. The reset will delete the past year’s learner history in these two courses. Please ensure certificates for the training have been saved for your corporation. Print or save the civil rights and ethics course certificates no later than Thursday, June 15. Certificates can be accessed through the Moodle account of the person who took the course.
Annual Training Hours Requirements
Each school nutrition employee must meet the annual requirement for professional training hours. Review the USDA Professional Standards Summary of Updates Flyer (English|Spanish) for more information. Additionally, check out Team Nutrition’s other professional standards resources, such as recorded webinars available with Spanish captions and the Professional Standards Training Database, which includes training available in English and Spanish.
USDA Best Practices for Contracting with Food Service Management Companies (FSMC)
On Friday, April 21, USDA released SP 13-2023 - Best Practices for Contracting with Food Service Management Companies (FSMC) guidance. This policy memo outlines best practices for FSMC contracts. The memo provides procurement guidance that spans the process prior to bidding through canceling a contract.
Healthy Meals Incentives Grants for Small/Rural Schools: Due Friday, May 26
As part of a cooperative agreement to develop and implement the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, Action for Healthy Kids is offering competitive grants (up to $150,000) for small and/or rural schools to support efforts to improve the nutritional quality of their school meals. The deadline to submit a grant application is 5 p.m. ET, on Friday, May 26.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Schools must participate in the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program
- Schools must meet the following definitions of small and/or rural:
PLE Guidance for SY 2023-2024: Paid Lunch Equity (PLE) Tool Exemption Requests
- Sponsors should submit the PLE tool to SCNFinance@doe.in.gov or submit the attestation statement for an exemption by Friday, June 9.
- Sponsors who submit the attestation statement for exemption will receive an email notification verifying the submission.
- Any SFA with a positive or zero balance in its non-profit school food service account as of June 30, 2022, may be granted an exemption by IDOE from the PLE Pricing Requirements.
- RCCIs do not need to complete the Paid Lunch Equity Tools, as all students are free. Exception: RCCIs with day treatment centers (where students are not residents)
- While not required, exempt SFAs may still use the PLE tool to complete the steps necessary to determine their target SY 2023-2024 paid lunch price, consistent with Program regulation at 7 CFR 210.14(e), and adjust the paid lunch prices accordingly. The weighted average price for 2023-2024 should be at or above $3.56. Consistent with 7 CFR 210.14(e)(4)(i), SFAs are not required to raise their paid lunch price by more than 10 cents for SY 2023-2024 from the last year they charged for paid lunches. SFAs can still choose to raise the price by more than 10 cents.
- SFAs wishing to apply for the PLE Exemption must complete an attestation statement verifying the SFA has a positive or zero balance in the non-profit school food service account as of June 30, 2022 (SFAs do not need to submit documentation verifying the balance, but will need to keep documentation (a bank statement, accounting software report, or ledger print-out) showing the balance in their non-profit school food service account as of June 30, 2022.
- SFAs with a negative balance in the non-profit school food service account as of June 30, 2022, must follow PLE requirements according to 7 CFR 210.14(e) when establishing their paid lunch prices for SY 2023-2024.
- PLE Tool 2023-2024, guidance, instructions, attestation statement, and common questions and answers can be found on IDOE's Financial Management webpage under the headers Pricing Guidance and Paid Lunch Equity (PLE)/PLE Tool SY 2023-2024.
For additional questions, please email SCNFinance@doe.in.gov and include “PLE Tool” and your sponsor number in the subject line.
Safer Communities Act: Stronger Connections Grant
Grant funding is available to expand upon and maintain alignment with the goals and purposes of Title IV, Part A, Focus Area B, Safe and Healthy Schools. Schools can request up to $400,000 in funding. Applications are due Saturday, July 15. To learn more, and to apply, click here. This funding will in no way impact past, current, or future Title IV, A funding. Note: LEAs must be Title I-eligible and meet at least one of the following “high need” criteria:
Safe
- High rates of absenteeism
- High rates of exclusionary discipline
- High rates of referrals to the juvenile justice system
- High incurrences of bullying and harassment
- High rates of community and/or school violence
Healthy
- Low community or school access to mental health supports
- Low access to nurses/nursing staff
- Disproportionate ratio of mental health professionals to students and/or community
- High or increased rates of suicide ideation
- High community and/or school rates of substance abuse
No Kid Hungry CEP Calculator
No Kid Hungry offers a CEP Calculator to assist school nutrition sponsors with making sound financial decisions related to CEP.
The CEP Calculator enables school nutrition staff to:
- Compare side-by-side expected annual revenue under both CEP and standard NSLP (standard counting and claiming)
- Compare side-by-side each school’s expected annual revenue under both CEP and standard NSLP
- Customize the financial analysis by manipulating expected breakfast and lunch participation rates by school, and see the impacts on revenue in real-time
- Optimize revenue with CEP by using strategic grouping, powered by the CEP grouping tool, Meals Count. It’s built right into the calculator!
For help with troubleshooting calculator-related issues, contact Paige Pokorney. For CEP eligibility questions contact your field specialist.
Indiana School Nutrition Association (ISNA) Industry Summit
Join ISNA for an exciting two days of all things school nutrition on Thursday, June 15, and Friday, June 16, in Bloomington. Don't miss this opportunity for tailored professional development and networking to benefit both school nutrition operators and industry partners! For registration and meeting agenda, click here.
Upcoming Dates |
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Friday, May 26
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Final day to inquire about missing SCA funds
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Friday, May 26
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Healthy Meals Incentives Grant proposals due
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Tuesday, May 30
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March claim date
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Friday, June 9
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Final day to submit PLE Tool or request exemption
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This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
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