Montana Office of Public Instruction sent this bulletin at 05/23/2023 02:17 PM MDT
Get Ready for Summer
State agencies, program operators, and sponsoring organizations that participate in the CNP can request free print copies of our materials. The following items are available to order for CNP operators:
NSLP Sodium Target 1A Transitional Standard Effective July 1, 2023
State agencies and school meal program operators are reminded that Sodium Target 1A, as promulgated by the Transitional Standards for Milk, Whole Grains and Sodium - Final Rule [fns.usda.gov], goes into effect on July 1, 2023, in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) only. There will be no change to sodium limits for breakfasts served through the School Breakfast Program (SBP). Please refer to this chart for specific Sodium Target 1A limits by grade level.
National School Lunch Program Transitional Sodium Limits:
Age/Grade Group
Target 1: Effective July 1, 2022
Interim Target 1A:
Effective July 1, 2023
Grades K-5
< 1,230 mg*
< 1,110 mg *
Grades 6-8
< 1,360 mg *
< 1,225 mg *
Grades 9-12
< 1,420 mg *
< 1,280 mg *
*Please note that all values must be less than or equal to.
FNS is pleased to share several resources to aid school meal program operators in Sodium Target 1A implementation. Schools can access lower sodium standardized recipes that meet school meal pattern requirements through the Institute of Child Nutrition's Child Nutrition Recipe Box [theicn.org] and Team Nutrition's Recipes for Healthy Kids: Cookbook for Schools [fns.usda.gov]. The Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) also offers sodium reduction resources and online courses through the ICN's Shaking it Up initiative [theicn.org], which features strategies and best practices for reducing sodium in school menus.
Direct Certification for Medicaid will be live in the Direct Certification Application (DCA) on July 1st
Expanding the eligible programs that directly certify students’ meal eligibility to include Medicaid data presents an opportunity to reach additional students. It’s important to note that the process of using Medicaid data to determine students eligible for direct certification works differently than other qualifying programs. Participation in Medicaid does not confer categorical eligibility but rather uses income information from Medicaid eligibility to determine whether a student is eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. Therefore, some students may qualify as Medicaid Free and some may qualify as Medicaid Reduced.
If your district uses software to manage student eligibility and/or to track meals served to students, please contact your Student Information System (SIS) or Point of Service (POS) software system(s) accordingly to confirm system functionality is able to accept the two different eligibility categories for Medicaid Free (MA Free) and Medicaid Reduced (MA Reduced), in addition to the SNAP, TANF, FDPIR, Foster Care, Migrant, Homeless, and Runaway free direct certification indicators you already use.
Some important things to note about meal eligibility based on Medicaid:
If a student is directly certified and has multiple active eligibility source programs, MA Reduced is the bottom of the direct certification hierarchy, and MA Free is second to the bottom in the hierarchy.
Both MA Reduced and MA Free can be extended to other household students. The DCA will automatically extend eligibility where the data allows as it does for SNAP, TANF, and FDPIR; you may need to manually extend eligibility if the data does not allow the system to automatically determine the extended eligibility.
MA Reduced should never override a FREE determination whether that determination is made through an application or through a different program that has auto matched and directly certified eligibility in the DCA. Eligibility source programs that come through the DCA will be automatically evaluated and applied by the system, so you don’t need to worry about those. However, you will need to manually compare the determinations made automatically in DCA as MA Reduced with your Free and Reduced applications to be sure the MA Reduced qualifier will not override a free eligibility determined through the application.
MA Reduced students are not included in the CEP ISP count for direct certification. MA Free are included in the CEP ISP count.
For CEP ISP determination, the DC Report will provide you with the ability to run just the free eligibility sources; in other words, all sources except Medicaid Reduced and Medicaid Reduced-EE. You can choose the option to adjust parameters to get various reports, or you can export all sources to Excel and separate the Free from the Reduced using filters in Excel. The percentages in the headers of the report reflect the categories you select in your report parameters. Depending on your vendor, you may also need to upload your Reduced students separately from your Free students. Your vendor will know how their system needs to handle this change.
MA Free or MA Reduced can ONLY be determined by the system, including through potential matches. It is not to be determined by letter or calling the DPHHS. If there are any discrepancies, please report them to the OPI so we can find out where the data is not being sent correctly, or we can assist you in finding the potential match referral within the DCA. See Direct Certification Tip Sheets on the upper right quadrant of the Home page of the DCA for more information on Linking Potential Matches.
If a child is determined to be MA Reduced in the DCA, the family has the option to fill out a Free or Reduced Meal Application to see if they qualify for free meals based on income. There are variations in how the National School Lunch Program and Medicaid determine income and household size that may make a difference for some families.
This memorandum provides information on the revised Prototype Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals. USDA updated the prototype application to improve the user experience for applicants by adjusting the reading level, streamlining the application instructions, and by adding clarity to the mailing instructions to reduce the number of applications sent to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.
This memorandum and attachment provide guidance regarding the State Agency School Food Safety Inspections Report for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program for SY 2022-23.
The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.
