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Effective September 1, 2023, OSPI changed the current website address from k12.wa.us to ospi.k12.wa.us. This change is required for improved security.
Please make sure to update your bookmarks, links, and saved pages to reflect this change, as redirects will only be in place for a period of 6 months. Rest assured, all the content and functionality you've come to rely on will remain intact at the new URL.
All OSPI email addresses will remain unchanged. If you encounter any issues or have any questions about this URL change, please reach out to OSPI's support team at webteam@k12.wa.us. We're here to assist you and ensure a seamless transition.
OSPI program offices will be working to update all links within their webpages and in imbedded documents over the next few months.
October 1–31: National Farm to School Month
Celebrate by offering farm to school activities at least once or all month long! Some ideas include: taste tests, nutrition education, farm visits, and garden harvest parties!
Serving local food items as part of your menu is another great way to celebrate! More ideas and specific resources are found on the National Farm to School Network’s website.
OSPI and USDA support the use of Farm to School activities in your program. In fact, they’re considered a best practice!
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October 4: Taste Washington Day!
Taste Washington Day is a celebration of your Farm to School efforts! October is National Farm to School Month. So it’s a great time to highlight all of your Farm to School activities.
How can your school district participate?
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Sign your district up online and share your plans!
- The WSDA Farm to School program will help connect you with farms in your area.
- Serve breakfast or lunch with local ingredients on October 4 (or another day in October).
- Celebrate with some Farm to School activities, such as:
- Market your Washington grown ingredients by displaying posters or special salad bar signs (See WSDA Farm to School Toolkit or Team Nutrition websites)
- Do a Washington Apple Crunch
- Invite farmers to the cafeteria
- Do a local foods taste test
- Partner with teachers or school gardeners to teach a lesson on nutrition and agriculture
Questions? Email Annette Slonim, WSDA Farm to School Lead or call 206-714-2757.
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October 4 at Noon: Washington Apple Crunch
The statewide Apple Crunch also occurs on October 4 and purchasing local apples for the Crunch can count towards both events! Taste Washington Day is a great way to kick-off Farm to School Month! Celebrate with us on October 4 and count the efforts towards your participation in Farm to School Month!
Print and send home the 2023 Apple Crunch Flyer with info about how to do the apple crunch, and Washington apple facts!
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October 9–13, 2023: National School Lunch Week
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) serves nearly 30 million children every school day in cafeterias, classrooms, and when necessary, even at home! National School Lunch Week highlights the importance of school lunch as well as the critical role school nutrition professionals play in helping children succeed.
This year’s theme is Level Up with School Lunch!
How to participate?
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Deck out your cafeteria with NSLW posters and other artwork portraying nutritious lunch foods. This is a great opportunity to make use of the annual theme to highlight lunchtime favorites.
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Share your upcoming celebration on social media! Download the official #NSLW23 graphics to start promoting.
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Get in touch with local personalities! Invite teachers, administrators or even your school principal to stand in as guest servers for lunch one day.
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Offer a tasting of new menu items and talk to students about the nutritious benefits they get from certain foods.
Visit the NSLW23 webpage for additional tools and resources!
We Want to Celebrate YOU!
Send pictures and stories of your Farm to School Month celebrations to the School Meals Team inbox!
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Round 3 of USDA Supply Chain Assistance (SCA) funds were released with September Apportionment payments. You can view the amount your district received in your WINS Accounts Tab, under Payment Summary. Make sure and select September 2023.
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USDA has announced a 4th Round of SCA funding. We anticipate the release of these funds at the end of January 2024. Child Nutrition Services will be publishing a bulletin in the near future. Please note, Local Education Agencies will need to opt in to receive the funds via a survey link published in the bulletin.
Questions? Please email the School Meals team inbox.
Annual Training Requirement
This brand-new course is now live in Canvas! This interactive training will review all program requirements as well as offer some best practices from around the state. This course is self-paced and completely online.
Training is required to participate in this program for new and returning sponsors. Sponsors awarded funds to operate FFVP in SY 23–24 must self-certify their completion of this online training course within Canvas by October 30, 2023. FFVP claiming may be delayed until training has been completed.
Register for FFVP Virtual Annual Training
As a reminder, FFVP Site Spending Plans are due by September 30th. A tutorial for completing spending plans can be found within the FFVP annual training course.
Questions? Please email Rachel Floyd, Special Programs Specialist.
Welcome back to school year 2023–24. This message provides you with helpful information to submit your claim for reimbursement in the Washington Integrated Nutrition System.(WINS).
To receive reimbursement at the end of each month, submit your claim by the 15th of the following month. If you are not able to submit your claim by the 15th, you may submit your claim within 60 days of the original due date. The Claim Due Dates Reference Sheet 2023–24 identifies all claim deadlines for the school year.
WINS is open to submit your claim for reimbursement until 5:00 pm PT on the 15th of each month. Claims in "OK to Pay" status will process for payment at the end of the month.
Best Practice - Submit claims early in case an error comes up and you need assistance. Fiscal and Program staff are available until 5 pm on 15th or the last business day before the 15th.
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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 5pm PT. Claims that were incomplete or in error status are held and will not be paid until completed/corrected.
- Give yourself enough time to input all claiming data, preview errors, correct errors. Completing these steps will help you ensure the claim is in “OK to Pay” status.
- The system may be slower during periods of heavy use.
- Didn't submit your claim by the 15th? That's okay! Submit your monthly claim by the 60-day deadline.
- There are multiple edit checks in the claim for reimbursement. Edit checks identify claim errors. Errors must be resolved to receive reimbursement.
Claim Resources
Questions? Contact your OSPI CNS School Meals Program Specialist or the OSPI CNS Fiscal Team (CNSFiscalServices@k12.wa.us).
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Child Nutrition Services has a new Fiscal Inbox!
Have questions about claims, grant payments or anything fiscal? Send an email to our CNS Fiscal Team at CNSFiscalServices@k12.wa.us.
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The 2023–2025 WSDA Farm to School Purchasing Grant Application deadline has been extended to October 16!
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Looking to increase the amount of locally sourced food served in your school meal program?
The WSDA Farm to School Purchasing Grant provides funding for school districts participating in NSLP and SFSP/SSO to purchase Washington Grown foods from November 2023– June 2025.
The application closes Monday, October 16, 2023, by 5:00 PM. For more details, see the Farm to School Grant webpage.
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October – Carrots
Fun Facts:
- Fresh carrots are available from June through October in Washington.
- Carrots are available in many colors like yellow, purple, white, red, and often associated with orange.
- Carrots are root vegetables with origins from Central Asia.
- Baby cut carrots packaged and sold in plastic bags are cuts from large carrots. Baby cut carrots are sometimes advertised as baby carrots.
- True baby carrots are harvested before reaching maturity.
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Nutrition Information: Carrots provide an excellent source of vitamin A; and are a good source of Vitamin C, K, potassium, and fiber.
Selection and Storage
- Choose carrots that are deep in color and firm. Avoid soft and split carrots.
- Carrots without tops placed in a plastic bag will last 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Recipes
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Educational Resources:
SAVE THE DATE: USDA Foods Show
OPSI Child Nutrition Services (CNS), the Puget Sound Joint Purchasing Cooperative (PSJPC), and the Spokane Cooperative are hosting a USDA Foods Show for Washington state sponsors of school meal programs. The Food show will include education sessions on a variety of topics relevant to anyone who orders USDA Foods and a vendor floor where you can sample foods available for order.
Dates:
- January 29th – University Place School District, University Place, WA
- February 2nd – Rogers High School, Spokane, WA
Time: 8:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Check out our tentative schedule here:
- 8:30 – 9:00 Welcome
- 9:00 – 10:00 Education Session
- 10:15 – 11:15 Education Session
- Beginner track -
- Advanced track + panel
- 11:15 – 11:45 Pre-tasting Instructions
- 12:00 – 3:00 Tasting
Help us plan for the best Food Show clicking here for the USDA Foods Show session interest survey.
Keep an eye out in future newsletters for further news and registration information.
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United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has updated their process for accessing nutritional information for USDA Direct Foods. The USDA Foods Database is a non-editable Excel spreadsheet on the USDA website that allows users to search for USDA Foods by their 6-digit material code. This new spreadsheet is the new list USDA is using to sort products the Food Distribution Program (FDP) has available from USDA along with up-to-date vendor-specific nutrition, allergen, and ingredient information.
To use this database:
- Go to the USDA Foods Database.
- Download the spreadsheet and save to your computer.
- Open the file from your computer and click “Enable Content”.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact Sarah Davis, FDP Program Specialist.
Resources:
USDA Foods Database – September 2023 (Download and save file to use)
Navigating the USDA Foods Database Webinar
Instructions on How to Use the USDA Foods Database
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Delivery Discrepancy Instructions are now available on the OSPI Food Distribution (FDP) webpage. If you need to report a delivery discrepancy, your order status must be in “Shipping” and are due 2 days before the last working day of the month.
To report an order discrepancy:
- Log into CNPweb.
- Select the current school year and click on the Orders tab.
- Click “Edit” in the action column to open the order and report the over, short, or damaged cases.
- On the Sponsor Order Discrepancy screen, use the “Received Quantity” column to report discrepancies. Note: This column is only able to be modified when the order status is in “Shipping” status.
- The default number for “Received Quantity” is the total quantity ordered. If the quantity received is correct, no action is needed. If you received more or less than ordered, report the actual number here.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact the FDP inbox.
The following products will be short due to limited manufacturer production and delays. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has therefore reduced the availability.
Please utilize the Surplus Order period to make substitutions. Please refer to the SY 2023–24 Order and Delivery Schedule for the Surplus Order Period. If the product does arrive prior to the order period ending, we will make some cases available during the Surplus period.
Eastern Washington
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NOT Available in October
- 100206 Apple Slices – available March
- 100362 Refried Beans – available March
- Very Short in October
- 100212 Mixed Fruit – lots more coming December
- 100242 Blueberries – more available December
Consider Substitute with 110161 Mixed Fruit, 100224 Pears Sliced, 100225 Pears Diced
Western Washington
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NOT Available in October
- 100206 Apple Slices – available March
- 100362 Refried beans – available March
- 110394 WG Tortilla – none for 23-24 SY
- 100242 Blueberries – available December
- Very short in October
- 100212 Mixed Fruit – lots more coming December
- 100220 Peaches, diced – more available November
- 100293 Raisins Individual Box 144/1.33 oz – more November
- 100359 Beans Black Turtle Low Sodium – more November
Consider Substitute with 110723 Dried Cranberries, 100225 Pears Diced
See the CNPweb homepage to stay up to date.
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September 29
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SY 23–24 Renewal Due
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September 29
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60-day Claim Deadline for July
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September 30
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Public and Private Schools Renewal Applications Due in WINS
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October 15
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September Claim Due in WINS by 5pm
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