Employee Meals
Any person who works solely for the food services department can receive a free meal on days they work. These meals are not reimbursed, but are considered an allowable expenditure of food service funds. Keep in mind that the meal must follow the serving sizes of what is offered to students and a la carte items are not included. Schools are not required to offer a free meal to food service employees, the decision is local.
Student employees who work for the food services department can also receive a free meal. When developing a meal policy for student employees, keep in mind that these meals are considered employee meals and cannot be claimed at the free reimbursement rate unless the student qualifies for free meals. A local policy must be developed to prevent student employee meals from being claimed incorrectly.
Contact SCNFinance@doe.in.gov with questions.
School Nutrition Program (SNP) Claim Errors
Due to non-pricing waivers for the past two years, the severe needs indicators in CNPweb were not functioning properly. As a result, some schools were receiving severe needs rates when not eligible, and vice versa. CNPweb developers recently corrected the error in the system and schools will see a change in their claims in the near future.
Contact SCNFinance@doe.in.gov with questions.
Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) Site Finders
Please share the following links to SFSP site finders with households in your area:
Keep up-to-date on SFSP site information via the IDOE’s Meal Site Information webpage.
USDA Foods Surplus is Available for Dilgard and McFarling State-Assigned Warehouses
IDOE is in the process of clearing USDA Foods out of 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.
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.
Direct Delivered USDA Foods and 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.
Meal Benefit Application Walkthrough and New School Year Preparation
Join IDOE to review the new meal benefit prototype application and steps to take prior to the start of the new program year on Saturday, July 1.
Tuesday, June 20, at 10 a.m. ET - Register here!
Coming Soon: Free and Reduced Information Training Series
IDOE will host a Free and Reduced Information Training series starting in July. The series will include both application and direct certification presentations. More information and registration links will be released soon.
Income Application for Meal Benefits
USDA recently released a revised prototype application and instructions for school year (SY) 2023-2024. IDOE has updated the free and reduced application prototype, and approval from the State Board of Accounts is pending. Once the Indiana version is approved, we will post it online and notify everyone via this newsletter.
Reminders for applications:
- Applications must be submitted in the current program year to be eligible for benefits. Applications distributed and processed prior to Saturday, July 1, would only be applicable for program year 2023.
- With the release of the new prototype application, please ensure online applications meet the requirements as well.
- Meal benefit applications for the new program year cannot be distributed until Saturday, July 1. Schools may opt to release the application later than Saturday, July 1, but not before.
- Distributing applications for kindergarten roundup in SY 2023-2024 enrollment packets or via online systems is unallowable prior to Saturday, July 1.
- Please see the school nutrition newsletter distributed Wednesday, May 17, for guidance on late in the year applications as they relate to textbook assistance.
Team Nutrition Child Nutrition (CN) Label Quiz
Test how much you know about CN labels with Team Nutrition’s latest web quiz! The Child Nutrition Label Quiz helps operators identify products that may need a CN label and understand the requirements for accepting CN-labeled products. The quiz consists of 10 self-paced questions that provide feedback for correct and incorrect answers. The user has the opportunity to retake the quiz and retry the questions as many times as desired. This quiz was created to support the information found in the CN Labeling Program and Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs.
This quiz is the newest addition to Team Nutrition Quizzes, which cover a variety of nutrition and nutrition program-related topics.
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.
No Kid Hungry (NKH) Center for Best Practices Website Refresh
NKH Center for Best Practices is proud to announce a new website. The website is easier to navigate and allows them to share resources, webinars, and events more easily. Check out the new website to explore and learn more.
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