Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT) is anticipated to be approved in Washington through Summer 2023. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) operating the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) will be required to upload student eligibility data to the P-EBT Portal by June 30!
P-EBT Uploads
Student eligibility data must be uploaded to the P-EBT portal prior to leaving for the summer. Important details:
- Your school or district should have designated a P-EBT contact person last month.
- The P-EBT Support team sent user access emails with credentials, links, and instructions on Friday, June 2. If your contact did not receive this information, please reach out to the P-EBT Support Team.
- Student Eligibility data should be pulled prior to any end of year changes made based on transfers or graduations at the end of SY 2022–23.
- Example: Students who graduate at the end of SY 2022–23 should still be included in your upload.
Please add WA.PEBT.Support@accenture.com to your safe senders list to ensure you can receive important information about P-EBT uploads. Additional information can be found in OSPI Bulletin 042-23: Summer 2023 P-EBT.
Please direct families to the P-EBT website or to the P-EBT call center at 1-833-518-0282.
Applications to participate in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) for SY 2023–24 must be submitted in WINS by June 30, 2023.
CEP allows schools with a high number of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals to serve free breakfast and lunch to all students without collecting school meal applications. CEP is available to public, private, and tribal schools.
To participate in CEP, schools or groups of schools must have an Identified Student Percentage (ISP) of at least 40% based off April 1 data. The ISP is calculated by dividing the number of identified students (students directly certified for free meals) by the number of enrolled students. The SY 2023–24 CEP Eligibility Report estimates the districtwide ISP and school level data using information from the Comprehensive Education Data and Research System (CEDARS) as of April 1, 2023.
To receive approval, LEAs must calculate their actual ISP and submit source documentation representative of April 1, 2022. ISPs must be validated by CNS prior to approval to operate CEP. Tools to help Local Education Agencies (LEAs) apply for CEP are posted to the CEP & Provision II Webpage.
HB 1878 Requirements
House Bill 1878 requires participation in CEP for all schools with an ISP of 40%. The law also ensures that CEP schools will get the highest possible per-meal reimbursement. When a school’s Free Claiming Percentage (the ISP multiplied by 1.6 (federal multiplier)) is less than 100%, state funding will supplement federal reimbursement so that all meals served are reimbursed at the free rate.
For more details about Identified Student Percentage, please review the CEP Reference Sheet.
Resources
CEP Questions? Please contact your School Meal Programs Specialist.
Local Education Agencies (LEAs) are required to assess compliance with the Local School Wellness Policy at least once every three years and make assessment results available to the public.
Based on the July 1, 2017, implementation of the Local School Wellness Policy regulations, the first triennial assessments were due on June 30, 2020. During the public health emergency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offered nationwide waivers of the triennial assessment. These waivers have expired. All assessments should be completed prior to School Year (SY) 2023–24.
What must the Local School Wellness Policy Triennial Assessment Review?
The triennial assessment should review:
- Schools compliance with the Local School Wellness Policy
- How the local policy compares with model wellness policies
- Progress made towards attaining the goals of the wellness policy
What Assessment Tools should be used?
LEAs can choose how to assess policy implementation:
How should the results be made available to the public?
LEAs can choose how to report the results of the triennial assessment to the public, including but not limited to:
- School website – must be easy to find
- Newsletter
- Letter to Parents
- Letter to Staff
- Community Outreach
Questions? Please contact your School Meal Programs Specialist.
OSPI Child Nutrition Services will continue conducting Administrative Reviews (ARs) and Procurement Reviews (PRs) for sponsors operating the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or the School Breakfast Program (SBP) in School Year (SY) 2023–24. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations direct AR and PR procedures.
In prior years, a combined administrative review (AR) and procurement review (PR) notification letter would have been emailed out to sponsors selected for review in the upcoming school year. For SY 2023–24, the administrative and procurement review will continue to be conducted separately. Sponsors will receive two email notification letters, one for the administrative review and one for the procurement review.
AR notification letters will be sent to sponsors selected for review by Friday, July 14, 2023.
PR notification letters will be sent to sponsors selected for review by Thursday, August 3, 2023.
Who will be selected for an Administrative Review?
Local Education Agencies (LEAs) originally scheduled for a review in SY 2021–22 or SY 2022–23, but have not received an AR in the current cycle due to the public health emergency, should anticipate being selected for an AR in SY 2023–24.
Who will be selected for a Procurement Review?
If your procurement review was conducted during SY 2018–19 or SY 2020–21 for FSMC sponsors, you are likely to have a PR during SY 2023–24.The PR will be conducted off-site, and the year of review is SY 2022–23.
Material Due Dates
- Preliminary materials for both reviews are due September 30, 2023, and must be received prior to approval of your renewal application.
- Submit AR materials to the School Meals inbox.
- Submit PR materials to the Procurement Team inbox.
Questions about Administrative Reviews? Please contact your OSPI School Meals Program Specialist.
Questions about Procurement Reviews? Please email Barb Krogstad, Procurement Specialist.
Register For Our Monthly Webinar Series!
Program operators offering the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) during the 2023–24 school year are encouraged to join us for monthly webinars!
OSPI CNS will discuss annual program requirements, new policy guidance, important reminders, and provide an opportunity for you to ask questions.
Register for the School Meal Programs Monthly webinars here!
Dates:
- Thursday, August 24 | 2–3 pm PT
- Thursday, September 14 | 3–4 pm PT
- Thursday, October 5 | 2–3 pm PT
- Thursday, November 2 | 2–3 pm PT
- Thursday, December 7 | 2–3 pm PT
- Thursday, January 4, 2024 | 2–3 pm PT
- Thursday, February 1 | 2–3 pm PT
- Thursday, March 7 | 2–3 pm PT
- Thursday, April 11 | 3–4 pm PT
- Thursday, May 2 | 2–3 pm PT
- Thursday, June 6 | 2–3 pm PT
Please note: You only have to register once and you will receive updates and reminders for each webinar.
Reminders
- Save the dates on your calendar! When you register, there is an option to add them 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.
- Follow-up emails with a copy of the slides are sent to everyone registered for the session, even if they did not attend.
- We do not post 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.
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On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (the Act) (P.L. 117-328). The Act included the authorization of a permanent, non-congregate meal service through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Seamless Summer Option (SSO); for areas that have the USDA rural designation with no congregate meal service starting summer 2023.
OSPI Child Nutrition Services (CNS) has contacted existing SFSP and SSO sponsors in these rural areas who are in good programmatic standing to offer the opportunity to pilot this model. This pilot will be available for new sites that don’t have current corrective action, or historically have not been able to provide congregate feeding options.
The USDA has further clarified the following operational topics in SFSP 07-2023, SP 05-2023: Questions and Answers #2: Summer 2023 Non-Congregate Meal Service in Rural Areas. This memo review questions related to state agency approval of non-congregate meal service, sponsor/site/participant eligibility, meal service, monitoring, reporting, and general miscellaneous information in regard to non-congregate meal service for SFSP/SSO in rural designated areas.
Questions? Email the Summer Meals Team.
Child Nutrition Services (CNS) recently released Bulletin 033-23: Additional Supply Chain Assistance (SCA) Funding for Child Nutrition Programs. This bulletin details the distribution of a third round of SCA funds for Local Education Agencies (LEA) operating the National School Lunch Program. Funds are scheduled to be distributed through the Washington Integrated Nutrition System (WINS) September 2023.
Let Us Know If You’d Like SCA Funds
SCA funds are intended to support LEAs who continue to experience supply chain disruption and financial difficulties related to the operations of the School Meal Programs. LEAs must let us know if they would like to receive these funds by completing a brief survey.
Please complete the SCA Funds survey by July 31, 2023
This survey includes your response to one of the following options:
- Yes, we want to receive SCA funding.
- No, we do not want to receive SCA funding.
Please note that USDA recently announced a fourth round of SCA funds for SY 2023–24. We will share details at a later date.
Questions? Please email Wendy Barkley, Director of Child Nutrition Services Operations and Administration.
Crediting Grains in the Child Nutrition Programs Tip Sheets provide guidance on crediting grains in a quick reference format across all Child Nutrition Programs and are broken down into three topics:
- Part 1: Creditable Grains in Child Nutrition Programs
- Part 2: Identifying Grain Products that are Whole Grain-Rich
- Part 3: Program Requirements
Check out the first four tip sheets in the series (Crediting Fruits, Crediting Vegetables, Crediting Meats/Meat Alternates, and Crediting Fluid Milk) on the Crediting Tip Sheets in Child Nutrition Programs webpage.
The entire tip sheet series will be available for print at a later date. Stay tuned!
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The Washington School Nutrition Association (WSNA) is a statewide nonprofit association of child nutrition food service professionals with the goal of providing nutritious meals for children while placing a strong emphasis on continuing education for professionals.
Join OSPI Child Nutrition Services at WSNA's Annual Summer Conference!
We will be presenting sessions on the Community Eligibility Provision, Breakfast After the Bell, Special Dietary Needs, and more! But that's not the only reason to attend—You can kick off the year by having fun with your fellow School Meal Program officials, all while receiving Professional Standards Credits!
Location: Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center
Dates: Monday, July 24–Wednesday, July 26
Cost: Early Bird Rates available until June 30!
Manager/ Employee—$165 | Directors/ Supervisors/ Chef—$200 | Non-Members—$400
Pre-Conference Activities on Sunday, July 23
Registration deadline: June 30
View the WSNA Summer Conference webpage for an overview of the event and registration information.
Looking to increase the amount of locally sourced food served in your meal program?
The WSDA Farm to School Purchasing Grant provides funding for SFAs participating in NSLP to purchase Washington Grown foods from November 2023 – June 2025.
The application will open this August, please visit the Farm to School Grant webpage.
Due to limited manufacture production, USDA has reduced availability of the following USDA direct products. The following items will no longer be available for your September delivery.
Eastern Washington
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100206 Apple Slices – Available December
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100212 Mixed Fruit – Available November
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100219 Peaches, sliced – Available October
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100220 Peaches, diced – Available October
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100355 Potato Wedges – Available December
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100362 Refried beans – Available February
Western Washington
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100206 Apple Slices – Available December
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100212 Mixed Fruit – Available November
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100220 Peaches, diced – Available October
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100242 Blueberries – No ETA
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100355 Potato Wedges – Available December
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100362 Refried beans – Available November
Questions? Please email the FDP Team inbox.
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OSPI Child Nutrition Services is in the process of finalizing a new warehouse and shipping contract for School Year 2023–24. In this updated contract, we will continue working with the same warehouses and transportation companies, though we are noticing several external factors that may increase rates for the year.
We are in the process of finalizing prices and seeking required USDA approval and will provide additional details as soon as possible.
Questions? Please email the FDP Team inbox.
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