Nutrition Program Bulletin – Week of March 1, 2021
Each section contains updates relevant to those nutrition programs. You can jump to the section you're interested in by clicking the link.
Updated documents:
COVID-19 Waiver Reporting Survey
Last Friday, a COVID-19 waiver reporting survey was sent via email to the contact person listed on the Cyber-Linked Interactive Child Nutrition System (CLiCS) sponsor application for all Minnesota child nutrition program sponsors. The survey asks you to report the number of sites that used each COVID-19 waiver for the end of the 2019–20 school year, summer 2020, and the 2020–21 school year.
Please complete this critical survey by March 31 at 11:59 p.m. to help the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reporting requirements. We want only one response per sponsor, so please disregard if you have already responded. If you do not know, check with the person in your organization listed in the sponsor contact field in CLiCS.
Safe Learning Plan Update: Mealtime Mitigation Strategies for Middle and High Schools Only
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) Safe Learning Plan was recently updated to include additional mitigation strategies aimed at allowing middle and high school students to return to in-person learning. The elementary school guidance for mealtimes has not changed; however, additional guidance was provided for middle and high schools.
For Middle and High Schools ONLY:
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Daily documentation of lunchroom seating is required to support contact tracing in the event of an exposure.
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Six feet of distance should be maintained between students during mealtimes whenever possible. When six feet of physical distance cannot be maintained, schools must create as much space as possible between students.
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Cohorting smaller groups of students for mealtimes with six feet of distance.
Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) Sponsor Monitoring Review
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently approved Minnesota’s request to provide additional monitoring flexibilities for SFSP sponsors. Under this waiver, the following requirements are now waived through September 30, 2021:
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SFSP sponsors shall visit each of their sites at least once during the first week of operation.
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Therefore, sponsors are not required to conduct a monitoring visit within the first week of operation for SFSP sites that operated successfully, without serious deficiency or significant operational concerns by the sponsor, during SFSP program year 2021 (May 2020–April 2021). Sponsors must still conduct a first week monitoring visit for all new sites.
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SFSP sponsors must review each site at least once during the first four weeks of operation.
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Therefore, sponsors are not required to complete a site review within the first four weeks of operation. But a site review is still required during operational SFSP program year 2021 (May 2020–April 2021) and program year 2022 (May 2021–April 2022).
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CACFP Sponsor Monitoring Waiver
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently approved Minnesota’s request to provide additional monitoring flexibilities for CACFP sponsors. Under this waiver, the following requirements are now waived through September 30, 2021:
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At least two of the three annual sponsor monitoring visits must be unannounced.
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At least one unannounced sponsor monitoring visit must include meal service observation.
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Not more than six months may elapse between CACFP sponsor monitoring visits.
What this means is all monitoring visits can be announced, and a meal service observation is not required. We recommend doing a meal observation, if able, via a virtual platform. Continue with your scheduled plan of monitoring visits. We realize you may experience short-term facility or provider closures due to the pandemic which could result in more than six months between visits. Thus, the requirement is waived. When conducting a monitoring visit, document that the visit was completed by a desk audit and per the COVID-19 waiver.
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has prepared the following guidance for sponsors to conduct desk audits of a CACFP site: Off-Site Monitoring for Program Year 2021.
National CACFP Week is March 14–20
MDE will be celebrating National CACFP Week, and we want to recognize you for providing CACFP meals and snacks! Send us photos of meals/snacks you serve, your staff waving from the kitchen or a photo with explanation such as, “The other day our children tried kohlrabi for the first time!” Let us know how you and your staff serve CACFP meals/snacks, with or without a photo, to mde.cacfp@state.mn.us by Tuesday, March 9. We will feature a special bulletin message for National CACFP Week!
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Tuesdays @ 2 Webinars
Join school nutrition staff for a training webinar every Tuesday at 2 p.m. Read session descriptions and register for Tuesdays @ 2 webinars.
- Meals in the Classroom – Best Practices (March 9, 2021)
- Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Application Overview (March 16, 2021)
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Hiring Standards for Food Service Directors (March 23, 2021)
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New CDC COVID-19 Resources for School Nutrition
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released two new resources to support school nutrition professionals preparing and serving school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Find these resources and more on the new COVID-19 School Nutrition Resource page:
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