Thanks to your feedback, we will be modifying our upcoming webinars! Stay tuned for more information during our 11/4 Weekly call.
Districts offering the National School Lunch Program (NSLP)/ School Breakfast Program (SBP), and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) this fall are encouraged to join us for weekly webinars.
If you would like to join us on our current webinar series:
Register Here
Date: November 4, 2020
Time: 2 - 3 pm PT
If you are already registered for these webinars, you do not have to re-register.
Reminders
- Please hold a space on your calendar for these calls.
- A reminder email with your link to log into the webinar is sent 1 hour before the session starts.
- Weekly follow up emails with a copy of the slides are sent to everyone registered for the session, even if they did not attend.
- We will not be posting recordings to the CNS webpages due to rapidly changing information.
- Please keep an eye out in your inbox for these emails, if you do not see them in your inbox please check your SPAM box.
Miss last week? You can review last week's recording at this link.
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SFSP Meal delivery may be beneficial to childcare centers if school age children are now in care all day due to COVID-19. Coordination between the school district and the childcare center needs to be a formal arrangement where the childcare center is either a “site” under the school district OR the childcare center is a “stop” on a meal delivery bus route. The process listed below must be followed for either one of these scenarios:
Childcare Center is a Site SFSP Meal Distribution
Meals are dropped off at the childcare site:
- Childcare staff must be trained by School District on SFSP requirements as they pertain to their role
- Childcare staff must take “Point of Service” meal count using the SFSP meal count form
- Meal count must be submitted to the school district
- Communication about meals received, leftovers on hand, and accurate meal count forecasting must occur regularly to ensure enough meals are delivered for each child AND to reduce food waste
- The childcare center cannot claim these meals for reimbursement
Childcare Center is a “stop” on the Meal Delivery Bus Route
Meals are distributed to children individually:
- School district staff would take “Point of Service” meal count as each meal is provided to a child
- The childcare center cannot claim these meals for reimbursement
Reminders
- Childcare centers are unable to pick-up meals on behalf of the children in their care.
- Under no circumstance may children receive more than the number of reimbursable meals allowed in each Program for which they are eligible.
Questions? Please contact your CNS Program Specialist.
The October claim deadline is Sunday, November 15, 2020. Here are a few tips and tricks for ensuring your monthly claim will pay on time:
- Sponsor Application, Site Applications, and Site Calendars must be in APPROVED status before entering claims into WINS.
- Meals claimed in excess of the CAP count for a site will result in a claim error. Double check your Average Daily Participation (ADP) prior to entering the claim.
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SFSP sponsors with a FSMC/Vendor must make Average Daily Attendance (ADA) revisions prior to submitting monthly claims. Revised ADAs will not be approved for claims that go into error status due to meals claimed over the approved CAP.
- WINS edit checks the number of approved operating days for each site to the number of operating days entered in the site claim. If these numbers don’t match, the claim will go into error status.
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School Sponsors entering their October Building Data with the October claim for reimbursement should enter zeroes (0) for the NSLP/ SBP meal counts. You will receive an error message - please ignore this error.
Other Claiming Reminders
If your claim goes into error status, select “Preview Errors” to determine the cause of the error and contact your Program Specialist. Payment process is on the 15th of each month and WINS logs sponsors out promptly at 5:00 pm PT. Claims will be unavailable until the reconciliation process is complete, usually within two business days.
Additional resources on filing the monthly claim for reimbursement can be found on the Claim, Fiscal Information, and Resources webpage.
SFSP/SSO Renewal were Due October 31.
All Sponsoring Organizations who plan to operate SFSP/SSO this fall must submit a Meal Distribution Plan that reflects their current meal distribution methods and waiver implementation.
We understand during this public health emergency that sponsors’ meal service models may change. Program operators should resubmit their MDP survey as their meal distribution models are updated.
Applications received after 10/31 deadline might not be approved by the 11/15 claim deadline.
Checklists
The SFSP/SSO Checklists summarize the renewal process and can be used as a guide to submitting both the applications in WINS and the Meal Distribution Survey
Renewal Reminders
Please review our training and WINS renewal requirements article for more details.
Questions? Please contact your OSPI CNS Program Specialist.
In a previous At-Risk update we reviewed requirements from USDA, details regarding eligible sites, and considerations for operating the CACFP At-Risk program.
Some Highlights
- Meal sites that are not area eligible must target meals/snacks to children in need. To meet this requirement, sites must be located in the attendance area of a public school (an elementary, middle, or high school) where at least 40% of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
- Sponsors may submit an exemption request if there are extenuating circumstances.
Claiming Meals
- Sponsoring organizations that operate the CACFP At-Risk Afterschool Meals Component may only claim meals after the end of the instructional day if students are physically in care.
- For CACFP At-Risk afterschool care programs that are providing on-site care to children attending school virtually: Schools that are operating virtually are considered "in session". Only a meal and/or snack served after the virtual school day is over would be reimbursable.
- For CACFP At-Risk afterschool programs that are not caring for children on-site: When meals are being provided for children that are not in on-site care, at-risk suppers and or snacks may be claimed even if they are distributed before the end of the school instructional day. These meals must be marked as At-Risk meals.
Questions? Please contact your OSPI CNS Program Specialist.
All required program materials for the application, monitoring visits, meal counts, and more can be found on the SFSP Program Materials & Required Documents Webpage.
Frequently requested materials include:
Need help locating something? Email summermeals@k12.wa.us.
Last year we transitioned to weekly CNS Newsletters to keep the number of emails to a minimum.
These program updates help keep you up-to-date on changes in your programs and share important mandatory information, as well as good to know information at the bottom of the update.
Please note: if there are urgent updates, those will still come as soon as possible in a separate email and will not wait until the following week to be sent out. Please keep your eye out!
To help you navigate the CNS Newsletter format, here are a few helpful tips:
1. Use the Table of Contents at the Beginning of the Newsletter
At the top of every newsletter there is a table of contents to give you an overview of what you MUST look at and what is "good to know" (see details below).
2. See "Update" at the Beginning?
Articles with the word Update at the beginning indicates that there is an important update in regards to State or USDA requirements. These are the articles you must review to stay in the loop about requirements.
3. If you see "Reminder" at the Beginning of the Article
Reminders are previous "updates" that are still important, but were shared in previous newsletters.
4. How about "FYI"?
If you see an article starting with FYI, this is a good-to-know. These include resources, outside trainings and opportunities, grant opportunities from partner agencies, or other good-to-know type of items.
5. Highlights
CNS Highlights are articles highlighting good practices, Food, Body, and Mind Awardees, and other items.
6. Important Dates to Remember
You will find these at the bottom of every newsletter. They will include things like claim due dates, upcoming training and webinars, and other important dates.
We hope this is helpful! If you have any questions or comments about the format, please reach out to Samantha Brueske, Training and Communications Specialist.
The USDA has released several waivers that extend through the summer, as well as some extending through September 2021.
Please visit the OSPI Nutrition & Meals Guidance webpage, under the Important Updates header, to review any of these waivers.
The Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) is the only federally funded national center dedicated to applied research, education and training, and technical assistance for child nutrition programs.
Get FREE Training - Visit theicn.org/vilt/
ICN is conducting Virtual Instructor-Led Training for anyone who would like to attend. The sessions are about 4 hours long and certificates are provided for participation. Sign up soon! There is a 25 person limit per class.
School Meal Program topics available:
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Food Safety Basics
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Norovirus for Schools
- Norovirus for Child Care
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Nutrition 101 (2-day sessions)
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Foundations for Training Excellence: Basics
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Training Culturally Diverse Groups
- Basic Culinary Math
Team Nutrition recently released the Summer Food Service Program: Providing Multiple Meals at a Time During the Coronavirus Pandemic resource. This resource provides technical assistance on the amounts of foods needed for multiple day distribution, use of “bulk” foods, best practices, and parent communication.
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November 15
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October Claims Due in WINS
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November 30
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Last day to submit your September claims! 60-Day Claim Deadline
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