Sign Up for the New Webinar Series!
We will see you every other week until December 16!
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 these webinars.
You must register for this NEW series.
Register Here
When? Every Other Wednesday
Dates? November 18, December 2, December 16
Time? 2 - 3 pm PT
Reminders
- Save us on Your Calendar! When you register, there is an option to add us to your calendar at the bottom of the confirmation email.
- 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.
- 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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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released SP 04, CACFP 03, SFSP 03-2021 - Questions and Answers Relating to the Nationwide Waiver to Allow Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option Operations through School Year 2020-21 - Extension - Q&As #3
Questions? Please contact your program specialist.
Monthly claims are due by the 15th of each month following the claim period. This month, the 15th of the month falls on a Sunday. Sponsors should plan to have claims in “OK to pay” status by 5pm on Friday, November 13. This allows specialists to assist if there are concerns with claim errors.
Here are some important reminders about claiming in the Washington Integrated Nutrition System (WINS):
Claiming During Renewals
- 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 Attendance (ADA) prior to entering the claim.
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SFSP sponsors must make Average Daily Attendance (ADA) revisions prior to submitting monthly claims. Specialists must approve revisions before claims can process for payment.
- Revised ADA's 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 must enter October Building Data with the October claim for reimbursement.
- Enter zeroes (0) in the claim section for the NSLP/ SBP meal counts.
- The October Building Data section includes a 10% variance edit check:
- An error populates when there is a difference of more than 10% any eligibility category (free, reduced, or paid) when entering October Building Data.
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To correct this error, you must enter a note in the site claim (lower left hand corner) that states you confirm that the OBD data entered is correct.
General Claiming Reminders
- Monthly claim data must be in "OK to Pay" status by 5:00 pm PT on the 15th.
- WINS will automatically log all users out of the system on the 15th of each month at EXACTLY 5pm PT.
- Ensure to give yourself enough time to input all claiming data so the claim is in “OK to Pay” status.
- Once WINS closes down the claiming option users are not allowed to input claim data until after the monthly claim reconciliation process is complete. This can take up to two business days.
- Didn't submit your claim by the 15th? That's okay! File your monthly claim by the 60-day deadline.
- Example: The October 60-day claim deadline is December 30, 2020.
- The 20-21 Claim Processing Dates Information Sheet takes weekends and holidays into consideration for the 60-day deadlines. You may want to print or bookmark this information.
- Refer to the Claims Reference Sheet for details on what to do if you don't submit your claims by the 60-day claim deadline.
- Errors must be resolved for claims to be paid. WINS has multiple edit checks to help resolve issues before your claim is submitted.
Claiming Resources
Have Questions? Please contact Hydie Kidd, Fiscal Supervisor, or Pam Fravel, Fiscal Analyst.
USDA Q&A #3 Updates
On November 2, 2020, USDA Released SP 04, CACFP 03, SFSP 03-2021 - Questions and Answers Relating to the Nationwide Waiver to Allow Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option Operations through School Year 2020-21 - Extension - Q&As #3.
This memo provided clarification on verification requirements for SY 20-21. All LEAs that collected school meal applications during SY 2020-2021 are required to conduct verification based on the number of approved applications as of October 1. Although schools may have transitioned to SFSP/SSO operations, verification is still necessary and required.
The Verification Process
Verification is the process of confirming free and reduced-price meal eligibility based on the meal application. Usually, the verification process begins each year on October 1 and concludes on November 15. For SY 20-21, the verification process begins on October 1 and concludes on February 28, 2021.
More information on when the Verification Summary Report (VSR) needs to be submitted alongside the instructions for submitting the report will be provided before the VSR opens in WINS.
Please review our Verification update for more resources and details about completing this process.
Updated Materials Now Available!
Updated materials are located under the 'Verification of Applications' dropdown on the NSLP Meal Applications and Verification webpage. Materials include:
- Entering the VSR in WINS Training
- Reference Sheets
- Timeline and Instruction Sheets
- Tools to help you complete Verification
- Letters for households in English and Spanish on the OSPI webpages. Additional languages are available on USDA's website.
Questions about the verification process? Please contact your program specialist.
October Building Data must be collected from all traditional NSLP/SBP/SMP sponsors, even if a summer meal program is currently being operated.
OBD Must be Entered for All School Sites
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Sponsors currently operating the NSLP/SBP should follow the steps outlined in the NSLP/SBP MDP Sponsor Checklist to ensure their renewal application is complete. OBD should be entered with the October claim for reimbursement. The applicable bulletins and addendums provide additional details on the renewal process.
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Sponsors currently operating the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) or Seamless Summer Option (SSO) All School Sponsors must submit their NSLP/SBP renewal application and create SY20-21 NSLP schedules for ALL school sites to ensure accurate OBD is collected for SY20-21. This includes school sites that may or may not be operating Summer programs this school year that would normally operate NSLP. When submitting the site calendar, sponsors should:
- Add a NSLP schedule for one day, October 31, 2020, including estimates of the Free, Reduced-Price, and Paid participation in the schedule.
- With the exception of October 31, ensure the start date for the NSLP schedule does not overlap with the SFSP/SSO schedule.
- When submitting the October claim for reimbursement, zeroes (0) should be entered for the NSLP/SBP meal counts. An error message will populate in the claim – please disregard this error message.
- The applicable SFSP/SSO Renewal Checklist provides additional details on the renewal process.
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Sponsors currently operating the SMP should follow the steps outlined in the applicable bulletins and addendums to ensure their renewal application is complete. OBD should be entered with the October claim for reimbursement.
Questions about how to enter OBD in SY 20-21? Please contact your program specialist.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced funding to states for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Equipment Assistance Grant.
For fiscal year 2020, Washington State received $443,417. Focus areas for this year’s grant is:
- Replace aging equipment or update equipment
- Adopt lunchroom changes that provide more convenience and appeal to students
- Make meaningful impacts on student nutrition and quality of meals.
School meal program operators operating the SFSP or the NSLP in school year 20-21 are eligible to apply.
The application will be in the iGrants system. We will send additional information including the opening of the application at a later date.
Questions? Please email Wendy Barkley, CNS Assistant Director.
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We recently released the Promoting the Family Income Survey Update and the It's More Than a Meal Application Update, which shared the importance of distributing these tools. For detailed information, please review the updates in full. Here are some highlights:
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Why are these tools important? The Family Income Survey and Meal Applications help to collect important income data.
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Does the “pause” in 30-Day Carryover apply to Family Income Surveys? OSPI is allowing a “pause” of the Family Income Survey eligibility roll-over while districts operate Summer programs to be consistent with USDA flexibilities.
Reminder
We encourage districts to continue to collect and process meal applications and Family Income Surveys as this data will provide a current picture of the economic impact to student households. In an effort to support districts, OSPI launched the It’s More Than a Meal Application and It’s More Than the Family Income Survey toolkits. These toolkits are designed to help districts promote the importance of families filling out and returning these forms. Materials are located on the OSPI Child Nutrition Services webpages.
Questions? Please contact your program specialist.
There are many different options when serving 3-5 year olds in the school district. But which program should you operate? What considerations are there?
New Resources Available!
We hope these help you when making decisions to serve children in your district settings.
Have Questions? Please contact your program specialist.
We recently shared information regarding the last training sessions for the PrimeroEdge Menu Planning Nutrient Analysis (MPNA) software. There's still time to use this product at no cost!
Please review our recent update for more information.
Our last training sessions will be:
- November 19 & 20
- The first quarter of 2021 (date TBD)
How to Sign Up
Visit our PrimeroEdge MPNA software website to request a demo to sign up for training. We will then get you signed up for the 2-day training session of your choice! But you might want to hurry - class space is limited to 25 participants!
The USDA Farm to School Grant Application for 2021 is now open, with proposals due January 8, 2021!
There’s a pool of up to $10 million nationwide and grants ranging from $50,000-$100,000 for planning or implementation of learning gardens, local foods in the child nutrition programs, agriculture and nutrition education, and more.
Webinars to Set You Up for Success
December orders opened Tuesday, November 3, and will close Tuesday, November 10, at 4pm.
Surplus orders will open Thursday, November 12, at 1pm for groups 1 - 3, and 2pm for all other groups. Surplus closes Friday, November 13, at 4pm.
For more information on your group number, please review the Order and Delivery Schedule.
Ordering
- To place an order - log-in to CNP Web.
- Your Food Distribution Application must be completed (including certified and submitted) before you can place an order.
- Ordering Instructions
- Reminder:
The Ordering and Receiving webpage has multiple resources to assist you in placing your ordering including; instructions, order and distribution schedule.
Important Reminders
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Confirmation of USDA Foods
If you’re scheduled to receive a USDA Foods Delivery, you should receive an appointment confirmation from the carrier. Please remember to reply to the carrier confirming receipt of appointment.
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To update or change your delivery contact person, please complete the Delivery Updates Form.
Questions? Please email the Food Distribution Office or call 360-725-6204.
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November 10
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December FDP Order Close
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November 12-13
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December FDP Surplus Orders Open
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November 15
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October Claims Due in WINS
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November 18
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SY20-21 Food Service Operations for NSLP and SFSP Sponsors Webinar - Register Here
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