Does your district offer summer school or other activities during the summer? If so, it’s time to start thinking about summer meals!
Who must provide summer meals? Schools in the district offering summer programs of academic, enrichment, or remedial services and have 50% or more of the children enrolled in the school qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. (RCW 28A.235.160)
Exemptions are provided by OSPI on a case-by-case basis and must be approved in advance.
Who else can provide summer meals?
Any school district can serve summer meals to kids at any school or site where 50% or more of the children living in the area qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. This can be determined using school data or census data.
What options does our district have when offering summer feeding?
There are many resources to help you decide which option is best for your school or district:
Questions? Please contact your Program Specialist.
Annual training for the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is now open! All lead program administrators are required to complete OSPI training each year. There are additional in-person training opportunities available this year. Read about the training options below for more details and to register.
All Sponsors
All lead program administrators from organizations planning to operate the SFSP in 2020 must watch the Civil Rights* and Procurement recorded trainings annually, prior to program application submission.
New Sponsor/New Administrator Training
This training will take an in-depth look at how to operate the SFSP.
Who Must Attend?
Lead program administrators from organizations that are:
- New SFSP sponsors;
- Returning sponsors with new administrative staff;
- Returning sponsors who did not operate a SFSP in 2019; OR
- Returning sponsors required to attend as part of their corrective action plan.
Before attending the in-person portion of this training, lead program administrators must watch the “Intro to the Summer Food Service Program” recorded training (coming soon).
Register:
March 2nd, 9:00am – 3:00pm, Lakewood – Register
March 12th, 9:00am – 3:00pm, Spokane – Register
Returning Sponsor In-Person Training
This training provides a general overview of SFSP requirements and offers opportunities for peer-to-peer networking and best practices sharing from other existing sponsors. This training can be completed in place of the online returning sponsor training.
Who can attend?
Program administrators who performed an administrator role on the SFSP in 2019 from a returning sponsoring organization.
Register:
March 3rd, 9:00am – 1:00pm, Lakewood – Register
March 13th, 9:00am – 1:00pm, Spokane – Register
Online Training Option for Returning Sponsors
Returning sponsors have the option to watch a 3-hour recorded training in place of attending the returning sponsor in-person training. This training will be available on the OSPI CNS website in March. No registration is necessary.
*NOTE: If your organization operates another federal Child Nutrition Program during the school year and the lead program administrator for the SFSP has already completed Civil Rights training within the last year, the Civil Rights training above does not need to be completed. Please maintain documentation of the alternative civil rights training completed.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released memo SP 06-2020, School Breakfast Program: Continuation of the Substitution of Vegetables for Fruit Flexibility. This memo is a continuation of the flexibility originally offered under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 116-6), enacted on February 15, 2019.
School food authorities (SFAs) participating in the School Breakfast Program (SBP) may continue to credit any vegetable offered, including potatoes and other starchy vegetables, in place of fruit without including vegetables from other subgroups in the weekly menus, through June 30, 2021.
This memorandum supersedes SP 16-2019: School Breakfast Program: Substitution of Vegetables for Fruit, March 18, 2019.
View the full memo for more information.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released memo SP 05-2020, Questions and Answers Regarding Professional Standards for State and Local School Nutrition Program Personnel. This memo provides an overview of the policies related to the Professional Standards regulations (7 CFR 210.30 and 235.11(g)) and responses to questions submitted by state agencies and program operators.
This document rescinds and replaces SP 38-2016 and has been updated to include questions regarding the final rule titled Hiring Flexibility Under Professional Standards.
View the full memo for more information.
OSPI has officially proposed changes to OSPI’s meal time rules in Chapter 392-157-125 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC).
Our proposed rules address the State Auditor’s Office’s (SAO) findings by:
- Requiring schools to provide a lunch period that ensures all students have a minimum-seated lunchtime of 20 minutes beginning in the 2023–24 school year.
- Requiring all elementary schools to schedule recess before lunch beginning in the 2023–24 school year.
We want your feedback!
These rules are not final and we want to hear from you! Public comments will be accepted in written form until April 17th, 2020. Please send comments to Leanne Eko, Director of Child Nutrition Services, at leanne.eko@k12.wa.us or by mail at:
Leanne Eko, Director of Child Nutrition Services Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction PO Box 47200, Olympia, WA 98504-7200
Public Hearings
We will also hold four public hearings around the state this spring in Olympia, Vancouver, Spokane, and Yakima.
Olympia: April 3, 2020, 1:30–3:30pm Olympia School District Office 111 Bethel St. NE – Olympia, WA 98506
Vancouver: April 10, 2020, 1:30–3:30pm Educational Service District 112 2500 NE 65th Ave. – Vancouver, WA 98661
Spokane: April 16, 2020, 1:30–3:30pm Spokane School District Office 200 N. Bernard St. – Spokane, WA 99201
Yakima: April 17, 2020, 1:30–3:30pm Educational Service District 105 33 S. 2nd Ave. – Yakima, WA 98902
Questions? Contact Mikhail Cherniske at mikhail.cherniske@k12.wa.us.
To arrange accommodations for persons with disabilities, please contact Kristin Murphy by March 27, 2020, at 360-753-4201 or TTY 360-664-3631 or by email at Kristin.Murphy@k12.wa.us.
For language interpreter services, please contact Jennifer Stevens by March 27, 2020, at 360-725-6162 or TTY 360-664-3631 or by email at equity@k12.wa.us.
Do you want to boost meal participation, eliminate student meal debt, and free up staff time? Join the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and United Way of King County (UWKC) for a webinar all about the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Wednesday, January 29th at 1:00pm.
CEP allows eligible schools and school districts to offer school lunch and school breakfast at no cost to students, eliminating student meal debt and ensuring that all students have access to healthy meals.
We'll dive into the basics and provide plenty of time for you to ask your questions! During this short one-hour webinar, we will hear from OSPI’s Learning Assistance Program (LAP) Office, OSPI’s Child Nutrition Services team, and others. We will explore:
- An overview of CEP
- How it works with federal and state funding programs like Title I, Part A, and LAP
- Best practices for collecting alternate income forms
- Timeline and process for School Year 2020-21 implementation
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (DoD Fresh) allows schools to use USDA Foods entitlement dollars to buy domestically grown fresh produce.
If you are interested in participating in the DoD Fresh Program, please complete the 2020-21 DoD Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Enrollment Form by January 31, 2020.
Participation in the DoD Fresh Program is optional.
Questions? Email Sarah Davis or call 360-725-6215.
On Thursday, January 23, 2020, CNS hosted a webinar for sponsors to learn about the new permanent agreement and what to expect during this process.
Questions? Email Amber Lopez or call 360-725-6208.
The WSNA 2020 Industry Seminar and USDA Foods Tasting Show on Tuesday, February 18 and 19th at Emerald Downs in Auburn is around the corner! You can register online or download a registration form. The Early Bird registration deadline is Tuesday, February 4th.
The USDA Foods Tasting Show will only include items that will be on contract for the 2020-21 school year. This is a great opportunity to taste products prior to completing your Food Distribution preorder for the 2020-21 school year! In addition, there will be an opportunity to attend informational sessions on best practices and tips for managing your USDA Foods entitlement.
For more information about the USDA Foods Tasting Show, contact Marlon Hopkins at 360-725-6209. For more information about Industry Seminar or the Washington School Nutrition Association (WSNA), visit www.washingtonsna.org or contact Marianne Culligan at 206-714-5832.
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