Last year, we announced that the reduced-price lunch co-pay for Pre-K and students in grades 4–12 was eliminated!
In SY06–07, Washington state eliminated the reduced-price co-pay for all students participating in the School Breakfast Program and for students in grades K–3 for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Now, all students eligible for reduced-price meals in public schools operating the NSLP can participate at no cost!
Public school district program operators must not charge the $0.30 co-pay for breakfast or the $0.40 co-pay for lunch. Instead, you will receive the co-pay for these meals each month on your claim for reimbursement.
What You Should Do
Please check your point of service meal counting systems ensuring any changes are made to support this change. There will be no new reporting requirements on the claim for reimbursement in WINS.
Questions? Please contact your OSPI CNS Program Specialist.
Webpages and Documents Must Be Updated With The New Nondiscrimination Statement by August 3, 2022!
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released updated Civil Rights Division (CRD) policy memos to clarify prohibitions against discrimination based on sex in all USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) programs and related implementing regulations that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.
What this means: Child Nutrition Program operators and sponsors must not discriminate or deny access to programs based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
Next Steps
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Effective Immediately: If not currently part of your organizational practices, update program discrimination complaint processing procedures to include complaints alleging sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.
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Effective Immediately: Process any complaints alleging sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination as complaints of prohibited sex discrimination. There will not be a grace period for accepting and processing discrimination complaints based on sexual orientation and gender identity in FNS programs.
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Before August 3, 2022: Update webpages and documents with the updated USDA Child Nutrition Programs Nondiscrimination Statement.
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NEW! The USDA is currently working to translate the updated nondiscrimination statement into over 50 languages! Please do not translate the nondiscrimination statement at this time.
- OSPI CNS will update documents previously translated with the updated nondiscrimination statement. Please keep an eye out for future CNS Updates.
- The nondiscrimination statement is required on all documents referring to program access, program approval, and widely distributed documents. Examples include: items distributed to the public, landing page of web pages, student handbooks, brochures, letters to families, or press releases.
- Child Nutrition Program operators and sponsors are required to take reasonable steps to ensure program access and benefits to individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP).
Additional Details
- OSPI CNS is ordering updated And Justice for All Posters and will be distributing them over the coming months. Until you receive the updated posters, please continue using the 2019 And Justice for All poster.
- We understand many program operators and sponsors are preparing materials for the upcoming program year.
- If your organization has already printed materials that include the previous nondiscrimination statement, you are not required to re-print documents.
- If your organization has not printed materials, please use the updated versions as they become available on the OSPI CNS webpages.
- OSPI CNS will be updating reference sheets, materials, and webpages in the coming weeks.
Questions? Please email the Child Nutrition inbox so we may assist.
School Meal Programs Annual Training will be held 8/8 & 8/9 at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA.
Who Should Attend?
This training is meant to enhance your knowledge about the School Meal Programs and allow time for you to connect to other School Food Service Directors around the state.
Important Details
- Training is free to attend; however, participants must pay for meals, parking, and any overnight stays.
- CWU is a cashless campus, meaning parking and any meals paid for on site must be paid for with a debit or credit card.
- All participants must pay for parking at the kiosk in lot I-15 (credit or debit card only). The cost for parking is $6. Participants may park in lots I-15 and G-16. Vehicles with state exempt license plates do not have to pay.
- CWU has a kiosk to put cash onto a card, if needed.
Registration Information
- Each participant must register for the event using their own pdEnroller account.
- While there is an option to register more than one attendee with one account, you will not be able to register each person for different sessions. Due to this issue, we recommend each participant to register with their own account.
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Create your free pdEnroller account if you do not have one already.
- Please limit attendance to 3 people per LEA to ensure all who are interested in attending may have the opportunity.
- Registrants will receive a confirmation email with their selected sessions, keep this email for your records!
Register for the SY 22–23 School Meal Programs Annual Training today!
Dates
- Monday, August 8 - Pre-Con Day
- New Director Training | 12–4 pm
- Are you new to the School Meal Programs? This session is aimed at new Food Service Directors and Managers. Join us for a 4-hour, interactive overview of Performance Standard 1: Certification & Benefit Issuance, Performance Standard 2: Meal Pattern Requirements, and General Areas with the goal to set you up for a successful school year.
- Participants will receive 4 hours of Professional Standards Credits for this session.
- SY 2022–23 Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Annual Training | 1–4 pm
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Tuesday, August 9 - Annual Training—Planned training sessions will include a variety of topics for both new and seasoned staff. Best Practice: Review the Annual Training Schedule to review session descriptions and class times before registering! Participants may receive up to 6 Professional Standards Credits for attending the full day training.
Recorded Training Option
All planned trainings will be recorded and posted to the School Meal Programs Annual Training Moodle course for those who are unable to attend this in-person training. Maximize your Professional Standards Credits by viewing all trainings! Please note: You must have a Moodle Account to access these annual trainings.
Questions? Please email Sam Brueske, Training and Communications Specialist.
Applications for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP) are due by August 30 for Residential Child Care Institutions (RCCI) and September 30 for Local Education Agencies (LEA).
Renewal Bulletins
- Public and Private Schools
- Residential Child Care Institutions
Resources
Questions? Contact your OSPI CNS School Meals Program Specialist.
P-EBT Summer and Children Under 6 Plans Approved!
Thanks to federal COVID-19 relief funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, many families in Washington state will start to receive Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefits beginning late-July and through the end of the summer. These benefits will help buy groceries while children are home during the summer months.
Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) food benefits are available to families with young children who are eligible for Basic Food benefits as well as school-aged children who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meal programs. The Public Charge rule does not apply to P-EBT benefits and will not impact immigration status.
Encourage Families to Sign Up for Up-To-Date Information
We encourage you to share out that families can sign up for text message alerts about the status of their child’s P-EBT by going to textpebt.dshs.wa.gov. All they have to do is fill out a simple verification form to enroll.
Families Can Still Access Summer Meals
P-EBT benefits do not replace any food assistance program already offered, including free summer meals or meals provided in child care centers. Families are encouraged to continue participating in a summer meal program at their local schools and community locations, even if they receive P-EBT benefits.
P-EBT benefits can be used to shop at any grocery store, farmers market, or food retailer certified to accept SNAP/EBT.
P-EBT Plan Information
The Children Under 6 and Summer 2022 P-EBT programs will be available as follows:
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P-EBT Children Under 6 program: Qualifying children under age 6 who live in a household that receives Basic Food benefits (the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Washington state’s Food Assistance Program) may receive $43 for each month they received Basic Food assistance from September 2021 – June 2022.
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Summer 2022 P-EBT program: Qualifying children under age 6 as well as school-aged children will receive a one-time lump sum of $391 per child to cover the summer period through July and August 2022. School-aged children enrolled in Washington state schools that operate the NSLP who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals are eligible for Summer 2022 P-EBT benefits. Children under 6 will receive benefits under this plan as long as they receive Basic Food assistance during July and August.
- These benefits are separate from a P-EBT 2021-2022 School Year program, which has not been approved by USDA at this time.
To ensure children who may be newly eligible receive P-EBT benefits, schools should encourage families to complete the free and reduced-price meal program application by August 31, 2022. Families should contact their district for meal application information.
P-EBT Contact Center
For full details and additional questions about P-EBT benefits, families can visit dshs.wa.gov/PEBT or call the P-EBT Contact Center at 833-518-0282 between 8 am and 5 pm PT, Monday-Friday (except observed holidays).
Applications are now open to for Northeast Washington ESD 101’s Child Nutrition Cooperative, a training and mentorship opportunity for NSLP and SBP providers. Through USDA’s 2022 Team Nutrition Training Grant, providers in ESDs 113, 171, 123, and 105 can apply to participate free of charge for up to two years.
Submit your application by August 1, 2022!
Who Can Apply?
Priority acceptance will be given to Local Education Agencies (LEAs) within ESDs 113, 171, 123, and 105 due to current grant funding. However, all interested districts are encouraged to apply, as applications will be used to determine program expansion in the future.
Why Sign Up?
Participating LEAs receive small equipment grants, culinary training, menu planning assistance, administrative support, and training.
Need more information? Please email Erica Lamson or Abby Miller, ESD 101 contact.
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.
Register for a Webinar
This S.T.A.R. webinar will highlight the new rule on Transitional Nutrition Standards for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium went into effect on July 1, 2022. Join to hear how operators tailored strategies and best practices to meet the new transitional standards.
Register for the Highlighting School Success in Meeting the Transitional Nutrition Standards webinar
Date: Thursday, July 28
Time: 12–1 pm PT
Additional Details
- After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
- Registrants are eligible to receive a continuing education certificate for attending this webinar. Professional Standards Code: 1110 – USDA Nutrition Requirements.
- Webinar recordings can be found on ICN’s online course platform, iLearn, one week after the live webinar.
The USDA and ICN have collaborated to create the Culinary Institute of Child Nutrition, a division of the ICN, with a principal mission to increase the culinary skills of school nutrition programs by providing culinary training programs and resources to support Child Nutrition Operators to prepare and serve healthy, culinary-inspired school meals from scratch and elevate the cafeteria atmosphere.
Register for a Webinar
Join a webinar for an overview of the recently released the USDA Recipe Standardization Guide for School Nutrition Programs. This webinar will include a discussion on the benefits of standardized recipes and the three-phase approach to the recipe standardization process.
Register for the Introducing the USDA Recipe Standardization Guide for School Nutrition Programs webinar
Date: Thursday, August 4
Time: 12–1 pm PT
Additional Details
- After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
- Registrants are eligible to receive a continuing education certificate for attending this webinar. Professional Standards Code: 1100 – Menu Planning, 2100 – Food Production, 3200 – Program Management.
- Webinar recordings can be found on ICN’s online course platform, iLearn, one week after the live webinar.
The annual Value of Commodities Shipped report summarizes the total value of USDA Foods shipped to your district during the school year for the National School Lunch Program. The report for School Year 2021-22 is now available.
Instructions on how to generate and print the report are available on the Food Distribution webpage.
Please print a copy of the report for your business manager or fiscal officer.
The following information is provided in the Value of Commodities Shipped report:
COMMODITY: Each commodity is listed as either bonus or entitlement.
- 10000 codes: USDA direct items
- W-Code: State processed USDA items
- D001 code: Department of Defense (DoD) Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Fresh funds (if applicable)
- 100532 code: Unprocessed Fruit and Vegetable Pilot funds (if applicable)
UNITS SHIPPED: The cumulative number of units that were shipped to your district during the 2021-22 school year.
SFSP REPORT: If you participated in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), you will need to log into CNP using your SFSP username and password to access your summer usage. Then continue with the instructions above.
USDA VALUE: The cumulative values using weighted cost averaging of all shipments received as shown on each Local Education Agency (LEAs) Order Form.
The total value (sum of total entitlement value and total bonus value) may be used as the amount of revenues for account 6998 commodities on the district’s annual financial statement (Form F-196).
The value may also be used for:
- Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) 10.555 National School Lunch Program.
- Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA).
Questions? Please email Sarah Davis or call 360-725-6215.
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