The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released information regarding a third round of Supply Chain Assistance (SCA) funding.
Join us for a Webinar!
SCA funds must be used to purchase domestic, unprocessed, or minimally processed food products for the school meal programs. Join us for an informational webinar on how to maximize the use of these funds.
Register for the Utilizing Supply Chain Assistance Funds webinar
Date: Wednesday, November 9
Time: 2–3 pm PT
This webinar will be recorded and posted to the Miscellaneous Trainings tile on the NSLP Public Trainings Moodle within two weeks after the webinar concludes.
Please keep an eye out in future newsletters for updated information.
Questions? Please contact your OSPI CNS School Meals Program Specialist.
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Master contracts from the Department of Enterprise Services (DES) for fresh bakery items and dairy products are now fully compliant with federal procurement regulations.
School Districts with a Master Contracts Usage Agreement (MCUA) can access the following contracts without conducting additional procurement activities:
- Contract #01520 –The Fresh Bakery contract is fully compliant with federal procurement regulations. Use this contract for items such as bread, rolls, muffins, hotdog and hamburger buns, wheat, whole grain, and white breads.
- Contract #02016 – The Fresh Dairy contract was recently amended to add required federal procurement language and is now fully compliant. Access this contract for fresh dairy products including milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt and buttermilk as examples. There are four dairies on this Master contract.
- Contract #02619 – The Fresh Fruits & Vegetables contract continues to be fully compliant with regulations.
Note: All other DES contracts are to be considered the same as third-party entities and only one quote source, per USDA Memo SP05, CACFP03, SFSP02-2017: Q&A: Purchasing Goods and Services Using Cooperative Agreements, Agents, and Third-Party Services.
Questions? Please email Barbara Krogstad, Procurement Specialist.
The Accounting Manual for Public Schools requires all school districts receiving federal funds to report in a specific manner. This includes USDA federal grant expenditures on the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA).
State auditors use this information to determine which federal programs to audit. The SEFA is included in the audit report and must be complete and accurate. The district is not required to include the Federal Award Identification Number (FAIN) on the SEFA for USDA grants passed through OSPI Child Nutrition Services to public schools but we are required to provide the FAINs to public schools (2 CFR 200.332(a)).
For school fiscal year ending 8/31/2022 report the following Federal Award Identification Numbers (FAINs):
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USDA Program
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CFDA
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FAIN
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National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
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10.555
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227WAWA3N1099 and 227WAWA3N1199
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School Breakfast Program (SBP)
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10.553
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227WAWA3N1099 and 227WAWA3N1199
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Summer Seamless Option (SSO)
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10.553, 10.555
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227WAWA3N1099 and 227WAWA3N1199
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Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
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10.559
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227WAWA3N1099 and 227WAWA3N1199
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Special Milk Program (SMP)
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10.556
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227WAWA3N1099 and 227WAWA3N1199
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Supply Chain Assistance (SCA)
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10.555
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227WAWA3N8903
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Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
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10.558
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227WAWA3N1099 and 227WAWA3N1199
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CACFP Cash In Lieu
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10.558
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227WAWA3N2020
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School Meals Equipment Grant
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10.579
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227WAWA7N8103
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Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program
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10.582
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227WAWA1L1603
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Please review the CNS Accounting Reporting Codes Reference Sheet for more details.
Questions? Please email Jeff Booth, Audit and Financial Manager.
OSPI Child Nutrition Services was given $150,000 to award grants to school districts seeking to implement more plant-based meals in School Year (SY) 2022–23. These funds will be distributed as competitive grants up to $10,000 per school district to be spent during SY 2022–23.
Why Serve Plant-Based School Meals?
There are a variety of benefits to serving plant-based school meal options, including:
- Supporting Student Health: Well-planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits for the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Additionally, many students follow plant-based diets for a variety of reasons.
- Serving Culturally Appropriate Meals: Providing plant-based menu offerings can make school meals more accessible to children following halal, kosher, and other specific cultural dietary practices.
- Supporting Local Agriculture: Washington has a bounty of local farmers and food businesses that are growing and selling plant-based protein foods, like lentils and soy products.
Who Can Apply?
All K-12 schools, including public, private, and tribal schools, participating in the National School Lunch and/or School Breakfast Program in Washington state are eligible to apply. All districts interested in making more plant-based entrees, sides, and/or dairy alternatives available to students on their menu are encouraged to apply.
When Does the Application Open?
The Plant Based Meals Grant Application will open in iGrants as form package 245 at the end of October. Please use the Plant Based School Meals Grant Reference Sheet and Application Information Sheet for more details.
Questions? Please email the CNS Grants team inbox.
Verification is the process of confirming free and reduced-price meal eligibility based on an application. The verification process begins each year on October 1 and concludes November 15. Results of the verification process (Verification Summary Report) must be submitted to Child Nutrition Services by February 1, 2023.
All Local Education Agencies (LEAs) that determine eligibility for meals using meal applications must conduct verification.
Verification Method Reminders
- New LEA must use the 3% focused method.
- LEAs with a 20% or greater non-response rate from verification in school year 2021-22 must use the 3% Focused method.
Sponsors Who Collect Meal Applications
All sponsors who determine eligibility for meals using meal applications should move forward with the annual verification process for SY 22–23.
Reminder: The Direct Verification Process has been discontinued. We encourage sponsors to familiarize themselves with the Rolling Verification process to help reduce workload.
Materials
Verification materials and tools are available on the CNS Free and Reduced-Price Meals and Verification webpage including:
- Timeline for Completing Verification Tasks
- Verification Non-Response Rate 20% or greater for SY 2021–22
- 3% Focused Sampling Worksheet
- 3% Random Sampling Worksheet
- 1% plus ½% Focused Sampling Worksheet
- Explanation of Method Used to Select Verification Sample
- Waiver of Second Party Confirmation Review and Instructions
- Documentation of the Verification Process
- Verification Letter Templates in English and Spanish
The SY 22–23 Verification Summary Report will be completed in WINS.
Timeline
Please use the Timeline for Completing Verification Tasks for complete details of completing this process.
Beginning of the school year to October 1: Process applications and run the direct certification list often. Ensure you have the most up to date information from the LEA Homeless Liaison and Head Start/ECEAP program administrators. Remove and file separately, paper applications for students that are directly certified for Basic Food, TANF, Migrant, FDPIR, Homeless, Head Start/ECEAP.
- October 1
- Count newly submitted applications for SY 22–23.
- Determine the Verification Method and select appropriate sample.
- Conduct a Second Party Confirmation Review or, if applicable, print waiver.
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October 1 – November 15 Send Verification notices. Conduct follow up attempts and send letters of adverse action as applicable
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Last Operating Day in October Count and record the number of newly eligible students in SY 22–23, who are:
- Directly certified for Basic Food
- Directly certified for Medicaid Free
- Directly certified for Medicaid Reduced
- Directly certified for TANF, Foster, FDPIR, Migrant, Homeless, Head Start/ECEAP
- Eligible for free meals; paper applications with case numbers and foster child
- Eligible for free meals; paper application – household size and income
- Eligible for reduced-price meals – household size and income
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Prior to February 1 Complete and submit the Verification Summary Report
Questions about the verification process? Please contact your program specialist.
Children are eligible for free or reduced-price meal benefits on the date their eligibility is determined. However, Local Education Agencies (LEAs) may request flexibility from the State Agency to move the effective date of eligibility to an earlier date under certain circumstances. This applies to both traditional household applications and direct certification. The Flexibility for Eligibility Effective Date options are outlined below. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) using this flexibility must do so consistently for all schools.
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Free and Reduced-Price Meal Applications: First day eligible for free/reduced price meals may be the date the application was dated as received or submitted to the food service department instead of the date the application was approved by the application approving official.
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Direct Certification (Basic Food, TANF, Foster, Medicaid): First day eligible for free meals may be the date that appears in the date eligible column on the direct certification list instead of the date the list was uploaded into the point of service meal counting system.
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Migrant, Homeless, ECEAP, and Head Start: First day eligible for free meals may be the date the list was received from respective program administrators instead of the date the list was processed into the point of service meal counting system.
Required Approval Process
Local Education Agencies (LEAs) must request written approval from OSPI Child Nutrition Services to implement a Flexibility for Eligibility Effective Date procedure. Please contact your Program Specialist and submit a written procedure with the following information:
- Identify the eligibility date that will be used for each type of meal eligibility determination (Free/Reduced-Price Meal Applications, Direct Certification, Migrant, Homeless, ECEAP and Head Start).
- The process to document the date meal applications were received. We strongly encourage use of a date stamping system.
- The process to track the date lists were received from the homeless liaison, migrant coordinator, ECEAP, and Head Start Program Administrators as well as the direct certification list from the Education Data System (EDS).
- The process to retain the source document; direct certification list printed from the EDS, homeless list, migrant list, ECEAP and Head Start lists as well as meal applications.
- The process for tracking and paying refunds for money paid by the household for reimbursable meals prior to the eligibility determination. Adequate records must be kept.
- A statement that any accrued debts will be forgiven.
Resources
Questions? Contact your OSPI CNS School Meals Program Specialist.
National School Lunch Week was a great time to promote the importance of your programs and we want to know...
How Did You Celebrate?
 Schools around the nation shared their celebrations using #NSLW22 in their social media posts, now we want to highlight you! Send pictures and stories of your Farm to School Month celebrations to the School Meals Team inbox!
Upcoming Scratch Cooking Recipe Development Trainings
At this free, half-day training, you’ll learn the basics of recipe standardization from how to find and analyze a starting recipe through taste testing and scaling to volume. Other useful scratch cooking topics such as determining crediting information, using local ingredients, and how to promote your new recipes will also be covered.
Register Today!
This training will be most useful for nutrition professionals responsible for scratch recipe development and menu planning.
Each participant must register for the event using their own pdEnroller account.
Register for Everett Scratch Cooking Recipe Development Training
Date: Wednesday, October 19
Time: 12–4 pm PT
Location: Everett Community College
Funding for this training is provided by a USDA Team Nutrition Grant. For additional information about this or other Team Nutrition Grant activities email Erica Lamson, Team Nutrition Grant Coordinator.
In observance of National Farm to School Month, the October STAR Webinar will share what the farm to school program entails and the resources that are available to support the process of implementing a farm to school program.
Register for a Webinar
Join the webinar to hear strategies and tips for cultivating partnerships between school nutrition operators and local producers. During this webinar, learners will:
- Review the Farm to School program.
- Identify strategies and tips for cultivating partnerships between school nutrition operators and local producers.
- Identify resources available to help school nutrition operators incorporate local foods in their programs.
Register for the Tips and Strategies for Growing and Strengthening Farm to School Programs webinar
Date: Wednesday, October 19
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 Codes: 1100 – Menu Planning, 1130 – Utilizing Local Food Sources
- Webinar recordings can be found on ICN’s online course platform, iLearn, one week after the live webinar.
Register now to attend free, live, interactive training sessions for child nutrition professionals offered by the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN). These virtual training sessions feature individual lessons led by ICN's expert trainers on important topics for child nutrition professionals in school nutrition programs.
Trainings will be held in October–December 2022. Some trainings include:
- Basic Culinary Math
- Training Culturally Diverse Groups
- Financial Management
- Food Allergies for School Nutrition Managers and Staff
- Food Production & Operations Management
- Food Safety
- Key Performance Indicators
- Nutrition 101
- Procurement and Inventory Management
- Reimbursable School Meals
- Special Dietary Needs
- Workplace Safety & Emergency Preparedness
For a list of trainings as well as training dates and times, please visit ICN’s VILT Registration page.
Registration is limited to 25 participants per session, and training sessions will fill up quickly.
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The Montana Office of Public Instruction has developed a Roadmap to Building Quality School Meals with Fiscal Year 2019 Team Nutrition Training Grant funds.
This self assessment tool can help new food service directors begin their journey on the road to serving quality school meals, while experienced food service directors can use it to continue to challenge themselves and move their program to new heights.
By completing the roadmap, food service directors and other school nutrition staff will identify their programs strengths and opportunities for improvement in key school nutrition categories that support quality and scratch cooked meals.
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Bellingham Public Schools was recently highlighted in a USDA newsletter celebrating the flavor of school meals!
As part of the Fiscal Year 2021 Cohort A Team Nutrition Training Grant, the district is developing five new standardized recipes for students.
After conducting a taste test with 60 Bellingham High School culinary arts students, recipes were adjusted to improve their nutrient content and all five recipes achieved at least a 93% acceptability score!
Students sampled beet hummus, chickpea masala, cauliflower alfredo, veggie queso fundido, and tortilla soup. Many of these recipes are plant-based and reflect cultural food preferences of the students.
Way to go Bellingham! Thank you for all you do to serve the children in our state delicious and nutritious meals!
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