New documents: 

• Direct Certification via MARSS Error Warning on the School Nutrition Program Direct Certification webpage 

Updated documents:  

• Household Consent for Home Delivered Meals through the National School Lunch/School Breakfast Programs on the Food and Nutrition COVID-19 Resources webpage
• Guidance for Parent/Guardian Meal Pick Up for NSLP/CACFP Fall 2020 on the Food and Nutrition COVID-19 Resources webpage
• Sample Seamless Summer Options (SSO) Lunch and Breakfast Menu on the Food and Nutrition COVID-19 Resources webpage
• Summer Food Service Program/Seamless Summer Options School Year 2020-21 Questions and Answers for Schools on the Food and Nutrition COVID-19 Resources webpage
• Agreement for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) on the Child and Adult Care Program Forms webpage

2020-21 School Year Nationwide Waiver Extensions and Guidance Memo  

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) recently extended the following nationwide waivers through June 30, 2021.  Due to pending waiver requests and the recently released opportunity for additional FY 2021 monitoring flexibilities, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is in the process of determining how these waivers will be implemented in Minnesota and will be providing additional information soon.   

Please do not make any updates in the Cyber-Linked Interactive Child Nutrition System (CLiCS) until further guidance is provided. 

• The Nationwide Waiver to Allow Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) Operations through School Year 2020-21 – EXTENSION (#59) supersedes Nationwide Waiver #56 and allows programs to continue operating under SFSP or SSO. 

• The Nationwide Waiver to Extend Area Eligibility Waivers – EXTENSION 3 (#60) supersedes Nationwide Waiver #52 and waives area eligibility requirements to allow sponsors to continue operating open SFSP and SSO sites. 
• The Nationwide Waiver to Allow Non-congregate Feeding in the SFSP and SSO – EXTENSION 5 (#61) supersedes Nationwide Waiver #54 and allows non-congregate feeding to continue in SFSP and SSO operations. 
• The Nationwide Waiver to Allow Parents and Guardians to Pick Up Meals for Children – EXTENSION 5 (#62) supersedes Nationwide Waiver #55 and allows parents and guardians to continue picking up meals for children in SFSP and SSO. 
• The Nationwide Waiver to Allow Meal Pattern Flexibility in the SFSP and SSO – EXTENSION 8 (#63) supersedes Nationwide Waiver #53 and waives SFSP and SSO meal pattern requirements, including milk variety, as needed due to the pandemic. 
• The Nationwide Waiver to Allow Area Eligibility for Closed Enrolled Sites in the SFSP and SSO – EXTENSION 2 (#64) supersedes Nationwide Waiver #48 and allows SFSP and SSO closed enrolled sites to continue determining site eligibility through area eligibility without collecting income eligibility applications. 

• The Nationwide Waiver to Waive First Week Site Visits in the SFSP – EXTENSION 2 (#65) supersedes Nationwide Waiver #49.  This waiver extends the flexibility for first week visits for sites that successfully operated SFSP in the previous year and for sponsors that successfully participate in CACFP or the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). 
• The Nationwide Waiver of Meal Service Time Restrictions in the SFSP and SSO – EXTENSION 2 (#66) supersedes Nationwide Waiver #50 and allows for continued meal service time flexibility in SFSP and SSO. 
• The Nationwide Waiver to Allow Offer Versus Serve (OVS) Flexibilities in the SFSP – EXTENSION 2 (#67) supersedes Nationwide Waiver #51 and allows the continued use of SFSP OVS meal service parameters by both School Food Authority (SFA) and non-SFA sponsors in good standing. 
• The Nationwide Waiver of Area Eligibility in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) At-Risk Afterschool Care Component – EXTENSION (#68) supersedes Nationwide Waiver #58 and allows SFAs to continue serving meals and snacks to students after the regular school day regardless of site location. 
• The Nationwide Waiver to Allow Reimbursement for Meals Served Prior to Notification of Approval and Provide Flexibility for Pre-Approval Visits in the SFSP – EXTENSION (#69) supersedes Nationwide Waiver #57.  This waiver allows MDE to continue to reimburse SFSP sponsors for meals served prior to notification of approval and waives the requirement for SFSP pre-approval visits. 

• The Nationwide Waiver to Allow Meal Pattern Flexibility in the Child Nutrition Programs – EXTENSION 5 (#70) replaces Nationwide Waiver #36 and waives CACFP, NSLP, and School Breakfast Program (SBP) meal pattern requirements, including milk variety in school meals, as needed due to the pandemic. 

Additionally, USDA released a question and answer memo regarding child nutrition program operations during the 2020-21 school year.  This memo includes information on open vs. closed-enrolled sites, a la carte food sales, simultaneous program operation, weekend meals, and more.  For additional information, please review Questions and Answers Relating to the Nationwide Waiver to Allow SFSP and SSO Operations through School Year 2020-21. 

Quick Tips to Improve your Meal Service: Standardized Recipes 

Standardized recipes are a required part of all child nutrition program operations. A standardized recipe is important because it produces the same taste and number of servings each time it is prepared. The USDA recipe standardization process verifies recipe results at least three times, evaluates the recipes using taste tests and other methods, and adjusts the recipes for yield quantities of 50 and 100 servings. USDA standardized recipes are available at the Institute for Child Nutrition’s Child Nutrition Recipe Box. Wondering where to start? These are the five most downloaded school lunch recipes for the year: 

1. Spaghetti and Meat Sauce 
2. Chicken Alfredo With a Twist
3. Pizza Burger
4. Macaroni and Cheese
5. Bean Burrito Bowl 

USDA Team Nutrition COVID-19 Resources 

USDA Team Nutrition has six resources that discuss the flexibilities and adjustments to ease child nutrition meal service operations and protect the health of children and program operators during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, view Team Nutrition COVID-19 Resources. Resources include: 

• School Meals Programs: Providing Multiple Meals at a Time During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic (NEW) 
• Seamless Summer Option: Providing Multiple Meals at a Time During the Coronavirus Pandemic 

• Summer Food Service Program: Providing Multiple Meals at a Time During the Coronavirus Pandemic 
• Child and Adult Care Food Program: Providing Multiple Meals at a Time During the Coronavirus Pandemic 
• Feeding Kids When Schools Are Closed 
• Handwashing and Cleaning Resources 

To better reflect current school year operations for school nutrition programs, we are changing up a few Tuesday @ 2 topics. The schedule with updated topics will be posted on the website next week at Tuesdays @ 2 School Nutrition Webinar Schedule 2020-21. The registration links will be reused by just changing the session topic. You may receive a message that you are already registered and will still be able to access the session via the link provided in the reminder email sent the day prior to the session. The next three session topics are: 

• Counting and Claiming for Summer Food Service/Seamless Summer Option Programs (October 27, 2020)
• Resource Management Issues and Concerns (November 3, 2020) 
• Summer Food Service/Seamless Summer Option Program Updates (November 10, 2020)