USDA Foods in Schools Reimbursement Rates Released for SY25
The reimbursement rates for SY 2024-25 have been released and can be found here. These numbers reflect the national average payments, the amount of money the federal government provides states for lunches, afterschool snacks and breakfasts served to children participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.
These payments and rates are in effect from July 1 through June 30 every year.
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Meat and Poultry in Schools
Through the USDA Foods in Schools Foods Available List, states and schools have access to many protein foods, including meat and poultry, that credit as meat/meat alternates in USDA child nutrition programs. Meat, which includes beef and pork, and poultry, which includes chicken, turkey, and eggs, are protein foods that provide many vitamins and minerals. Protein plays an essential role in the body, supporting growth and development, building cells and tissues, and contributing to many bodily functions.
While menu planning, consider choosing a variety of meat and poultry for your school meals, including lean protein that is low in sodium and saturated fat. USDA Foods direct delivery has many lean protein options such as Lean Beef Patties (100163), Diced Cooked Chicken (100101), and Deli Turkey Breast (100121). A few meat and poultry products, such as Chicken Legs (100113), Boneless Skinless Turkey Thighs (100883), and Whole Liquid Eggs (100047), are available in bulk for the processing program, which can help you utilize USDA Foods to prepare ready-to-use end products that best meet your students' needs.
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SNA’s 2024 Annual National Conference Recap
The School Nutrition Association (SNA) held its 2024 Annual National Conference (ANC) in Boston, MA, on July 15-16. This year’s theme, “Shaping Tomorrow Together,” brought together school nutrition professionals from across the country to share ideas and innovations. USDA Foods presentations covered a variety of topic including the basics of USDA DoD Fresh, food safety in Farm to School, and practical advice on handling food allergens. Thank you to everyone who joined the FNS sessions! Your participation is key to improving school nutrition. We can’t wait to see you next year in San Antonio!
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eAuthentication (eAuth) Phase 2 Transition to Login.gov is LIVE as of March 25, 2024!
The second phase of transitioning users from eAuth to Login.gov continues. Login.gov provides the added security benefits of multi-factor authentication to protect your personal information. The final phase of transitioning users with existing eAuth accounts to Login.gov is targeted for September 30, 2024. Once fully implemented, Login.gov will be the mandatory method to access all USDA eAuth protected applications, including WBSCM. WBSCM public customers, vendors, and business partners will not be able to log into WBSCM with an eAuth account after September 30, 2024.
As of March 26, 2024, each time an existing user logs in with an eAuth account, there will be an automatic reminder to switch to a Login.gov account.
 Login.gov will continue to be optional during this second phase, but it is highly recommended that users transition to Login.gov at their earliest convenience for added security benefits.
More information on this transition is available on the eAuth Frequently Asked Questions website.
June and July WBSCM Updates
On June 3, 2024 the WBSCM system technical upgrade and migration to the Cloud was successfully completed. This was a technical upgrade and did not affect functionality.
The WBSCM upgrade at the beginning of June brought the following search-related improvements for the user:
- New Fuzzy or Pattern Search feature searches for parts of the mentioned term, for any string match (substring, too) in any of the given fields, and across all columns of a table, where applicable; it doesn’t search for an exact match. This feature provides proposed values for a field and allows users to perform an expanded search; it does not require use of wildcards.
- New Multi-Select feature allows users to select more than one option in a drop-down field, where available.
On June 27, 2024 WBSCM received a quarterly update that had two fixes of interest:
- Ensured goods receipts for direct deliveries could only be entered by users at the State organization or the Delivery Location (SHIP-TO). Receipting at the Recipient Agency (RA) levels were causing issues downstream in the procurement processes.
- The Download Catalog transaction has been updated for improved web accessibility to conform to Section 508 guidelines which includes changes to button labels to be more intuitive.
The WBSCM upgrade on July 25, 2024, also brought six new functionalities and bug fixes including:
- Several updates to the Manage Users and Maintain User Profile applications for consistency of design and data inputs and introduction of mandatory primary email address information.
- Enhancement to the Display and Maintain Organization application to easily search for existing organizations in order to review or maintain detailed attributes.
- Update to the WBSCM email notification content regarding missing goods receipts from two calendar days to two business days.
- Other technical and security updates.
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