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Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the extension of several nationwide waivers. Washington state will participate in the following waivers:
- COVID-19: Child Nutrition Response #84 - Child Nutrition Update for School Year 2021-2022
- This memo announces a new suite of Child Nutrition Program Nationwide waivers and flexibilities to support a successful school reopening in school year 2021-2022.
- These flexibilities will increase funding, support access, and balance operational needs with the goal of providing nutritious meals across all Child Nutrition Programs.
- While many waivers provide flexibilities for an extended timeframe, USDA expects schools and child care providers to only use the flexibilities for the duration and extent that they are needed.
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COVID-19: Child Nutrition Response #85 – Nationwide Waiver to Allow the Seamless Summer Option through School Year 2021-2022
- This waiver allows all school food authorities to operate the National School Lunch Program’s Seamless Summer Option (SSO) when school is open during the regular school year.
- This waiver allows school food authorities to operate SSO at any school, regardless of its location or the type of site it is operating.
- This waiver is effective July 1, 2021, and remains in effect until June 30, 2022.
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COVID-19: Child Nutrition Response #86 – Nationwide Waiver to Allow Summer Food Service Program Reimbursement Rates in School Year 2021-2022
- This waiver allows meals and snacks served under the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) to be reimbursed at the applicable Summer Food Service Program reimbursement rates, rather than at the NSLP or SBP reimbursement rates.
- Reimbursement rates can be found on the Claims, Fiscal Information, and Resources webpage.
- This waiver is effective July 1, 2021, and remains in effect until June 30, 2022.
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COVID-19: Child Nutrition Response #87 – Nationwide Waiver to Allow Non-Congregate Meal Service for School Year 2021-2022
- This waiver applies to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Seamless Summer Option (SSO), and Child & Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).
- This waiver allows meals to be served in a non-congregate meal setting.
- Flexibilities of this waiver may be implemented from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022, or until congregation in in-school settings is safe and healthy, whichever is sooner.
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COVID-19: Child Nutrition Response #88 – Nationwide Waiver of Meal Times Requirements for School Year 2021-2022
- This waiver applies to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Seamless Summer Option (SSO), and Child & Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).
- This waives the established meal time parameters, the required minimum time between meal services, and allows sponsors to serve more than one meal at a time.
- Flexibilities of this waiver may be implemented from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022, or until congregation in in-school settings is safe and healthy, whichever is sooner.
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COVID-19: Child Nutrition Response #89 – Nationwide Waiver to Allow Parents and Guardians to Pick Up Meals for Children for School Year 2021-2022
- This waiver applies to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Seamless Summer Option (SSO), and Child & Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).
- This waiver allows parents and guardians to pick up meals for their children.
- Program operators must maintain program integrity and ensure duplicate meals are not distributed.
- Flexibilities of this waiver may be implemented from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022, or until congregation in in-school settings is safe and healthy, whichever is sooner.
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COVID-19: Child Nutrition Response #90 – Nationwide Waiver to Allow Specific Meal Pattern Flexibility for School Year 2021-2022
- This waiver applies to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), and Seamless Summer Option (SSO).
- This waiver allows program operators to request specific meal pattern flexibilities from the State agency. Sodium is the exception and program operators must inform the State agency of use.
- Allows program operators to request specific meal pattern flexibilities in the following areas:
- Meeting dietary specifications for sodium
- Offering only whole grain-rich grains
- Offering preschoolers at least one whole grain-rich item over the course of the day
- Offering a variety of vegetables from the vegetable subgroups
- Offering two different mild options of fluid milk
- That low fat milk be unflavored
- Planning menus for specified age/grade groups
- Flexibilities of this waiver may be implemented from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022.
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COVID-19: Child Nutrition Response #92 – Nationwide Waiver to Allow Offer Versus Serve Flexibility for Senior High Schools in School Year 2021-2022
- This waiver applies to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), and Seamless Summer Option (SSO)
- Allows for the waiver of the requirement to serve school lunches to senior high school students using offer versus serve (OVS).
- Flexibilities of this waiver may be implemented from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022.
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COVID-19: Child Nutrition Response #94 – Nationwide Waiver of Onsite Monitoring Requirements in the School Meal Programs-Revised-Extension 3
- This waiver applies to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP)
- Extends waiver of school meal programs onsite monitoring requirements, and the requirement to complete the onsite portion of the administrative review during the school year in which the review was begun.
- To ensure program integrity during this time, State Agencies and program sponsors should continue monitoring activities of program operations offsite (example: through a desk audit).
- Flexibilities of this waiver may be implemented until 30 days after the end of the public health emergency.
Questions? Please contact your OSPI CNS Program Specialist.
Have you noticed milk has been in short supply?
There has been a significant delay in milk deliveries, missed deliveries, and canceled orders in Washington State as a new warehouse is set up for distribution.
Milk shortages seem to be impacting fat-free and 1% milk varieties.
Note: Under SFSP, whole, 2%, 1%, fat-free, buttermilk, lactose-reduced, and acidophilus are all creditable.
What Do You Need To Do?
If you are unable to receive an adequate quantity of creditable milk for meal services, please contact your Program Specialist to request a Meal Pattern Waiver.
Questions? Please contact your OSPI CNS Program Specialist.
The Verification Summary Report (VSR) is currently 'on hold' in WINS. Recently, OSPI CNS received information that USDA will soon publish guidance that may impact our process.
Sponsors will not have access to the VSR module in WINS until we receive this additional guidance. Sponsors will be notified when the VSR reopens along with any additional instructions.
Reminders
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All Sponsors operating SFSP/SSO or NSLP in SY2020-21, verification must have been completed by February 28.
- Sponsors operating NSLP in SY 20-21
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Reminder: All NSLP/SBP sponsors will continue to see the current claim go into error status since the VSR report has not be submitted. We are waiting on guidance from USDA to determine our next steps for this report. Thank you for your patience.
Please know OSPI fiscal will continue to override the claim error in regard to the VSR report.
Questions? Please contact your OSPI CNS Program Specialist.
The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Application for School Year 2021-22 is open in WINS!
The FFVP provides a fresh fruit or vegetable snack to elementary school students and is an effective and creative way to introduce fresh produce as a healthy snack option. Funds are awarded to the highest free and reduced-price (FRP) percentage elementary schools.
The application deadline for participation for school year 2021-22 is April 30, 2021. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
For more information, please review our FFVP Article in the 4/6 Special CNS Update.
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Now's the time to register for SY21–22 Annual Training!
During this past year we have held bi-weekly webinars to keep program operators in the know about updates and reminders. We welcome you to join us for School Meal Programs Annual Training for SY21–22!
During this webinar, we will review the updates from this past year, things to expect for next year, Food Distribution updates, and more!
Register Here
Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Time: 1:30–3:00 pm PT
Financial Management Training
In addition to this live session, we will also be offering ICN's Financial Management for Managers live virtual training throughout the month of August. Participation in this training will will provide professional standards credits!
This 6-hour training was developed for site-based school nutrition managers and supervisors. Lesson topics include:
- Financial Management
- Production Records
- Forecasting
- Menu Item Costs
- Product Screening
- Inventory Controls
- Meal Equivalents
- Labor Costs
We will release more information about ICN Financial Management sessions in future updates. We look forward to 'seeing' you there!
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Card Mailing and Benefits
The second round of P-EBT benefits will be loaded to eligible children’s cards on April 20, 2021 and benefit amounts are dependent on the majority learning model of each child’s school for February and March.
Some families are still waiting to receive their P-EBT cards in the mail and we appreciate your continued patience while DSHS works to mail letters and cards to eligible children.
The P-EBT card vendor will mail the last batch of P-EBT cards on April 27, 2021, and cards take seven to 10 days to arrive in the mail.
Stay Up To Date
To stay up to date about P-EBT, we recommend to follow the Washington State DSHS Facebook page for additional updates and answers to questions.
For additional information, please refer to the FAQ on dshs.wa.gov/PEBT or call the P-EBT Contact Center at 833-518-0282.
During these webinars OSPI CNS will discuss hot topics, highlight important reminders, and provide an opportunity for you to ask questions.
Register Here
Dates: Every other Wednesday through 6/30/2021
Time: 2–3 pm PT
Program operators offering the National School Lunch Program (NSLP)/ School Breakfast Program (SBP), Seamless Summer Option (SSO), and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) during the 20-21 school year are encouraged to join us for these webinars.
Reminders
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Follow up emails will no longer be sent after the meeting. If you missed our last webinar, you can review the recording from our 4/21 meeting here.
- 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.
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 May 7th is School Lunch Hero Day. This day is normally one where we recognize the hardworking individuals whose contributions help nourish children across our state.
You've Gone the Extra Mile
This year, we want to recognize the innovative and empathetic response that child nutrition professionals gave during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a part of Public Service Recognition Week, Child Nutrition providers across Washington State, as well as OSPI’s Child Nutrition team, are being recognized for their work in feeding children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Governor Inslee has chosen this group of people for the Extra Mile award, to honor the public servants who went above and beyond to feed children this year.
A Well-Deserved Award
When Governor Inslee announced statewide school closures, the OSPI Child Nutrition Services (CNS) team took immediate steps to work with program operators to plan to serve meals in their respective communities.
Your heroic efforts resulted in over 20 million meals that were served to kids in the first six months of the pandemic. School staff, child care employees, and community organizations collaborated as the need for meals rose across the state. Meals were distributed not only from school buildings, but also community parks, bus stops, and in some cases, delivered directly to homes by food service staff.
Program operators continually revised their operations to meet the needs of families while continuing to provide safe meals that maintained program integrity. CNS staff acted as liaisons between program operators and the USDA to advocate for the changing dynamics communities were facing and advocated for waivers and flexibilities to allow programs to better serve children.
Thank You
OSPI would like to thank the child nutrition heroes who persisted against many challenges during the pandemic. You have been the rock in every community you serve and we celebrate your heroism during this past year. Congratulations!
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April 29
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February Claim 60-day Deadline - if you haven't already, submit your claim!
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May 5
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Bi-Weekly Food Service Operations for NSLP and SFSP Sponsors Webinar - Register Here
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| May 15 |
April Claims Due in WINS |
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August 11
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SY21-22 NSLP Annual Updates Webinar - Register Here
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