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School Meal Programs Annual Training will be held August 1 at North Central High School in Spokane, WA and August 13 at Highline High School in Burien, WA.
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Who Should Attend Annual Training?
This training is meant to enhance your knowledge about the School Meal Programs and allow time for you to connect with other School Meal Program operators around the state. Training is free to attend; however, participants must pay for meals, parking, and any overnight stays.
Registration Information
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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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Please limit attendance to 3 people per organization to ensure all who are interested in attending may have the opportunity.
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Registrants will receive a confirmation email with their selected sessions. Keep this email for your records!
Register for the SY 2024–25 School Meal Programs Annual Training by July 22!
Best Practice: Review the Annual Training Schedule to review session descriptions and class times before registering! Participants may receive up to 8 Professional Standards Credits.
Available Workshops
OSPI is hosting annual training as multiple workshops to provide an opportunity to explore School Meal Program operations and hot topics in depth.
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Basics of Operating the School Meal Programs | 8hr
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This is a full-day session. Participants that register for this session must register for both Part 1 and 2 on the same day.
- Food Allergies in School Nutrition | 4hr
- Menus of Flavor: East and Southeast Asian Fusion | 4hr
- Menus of Flavor: Latin American | 4hr
- Planning Reimbursable School Meals for Menu Planners | 4hr
- Child and Adult Care Food Program Oversight* | 4hr
SUN Bucks benefits are being issued! Thank you for your efforts to upload student eligibility data. As a reminder, benefits are issued in batches and not by school or district. Children in the same household may not receive their benefits at the same time.
The Upload Portal is now closed. Please direct families that may be newly eligible to apply here: https://sunbucks.dshs.wa.gov/en/
Please direct families to the SUN Bucks website or to the call center at 1-833-543-3230.
 What is Summer EBT?
Permanent, nationwide Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (Summer EBT) program—also known as SUN Bucks, to support children who lose access to free and reduced-price school meals during the summer months. Summer EBT is separate from SNAP, but benefits are used like SNAP to buy food. Summer EBT provides a one-time $120 food benefit for each eligible child.
Who administers the program?
USDA administers the program nationally. The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), in partnership with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), is administering the Summer EBT (S-EBT) program in Washington state.
Where do we direct families?
- For students who were not include in the district upload and may still meet eligibility requirements can apply online at the DSHS SUN Bucks webpage.
- Families who have questions about S-EBT eligibility, need to change their address or have general questions should contact the S-EBT Contact Center at (833) 543-3230 between 8 am and 5 pm Monday–Friday (except observed holidays).
Applications for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) are due by September 1.
Renewal Bulletins
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Residential Child Care Institutions
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Public and Private Schools
Resources
Questions? Contact your School Meals Program Specialist.
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OSPI recently awarded Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) funds to sites for SY 2024–25. A total of 175 schools have been offered funding to increase access to fresh produce as well as provide nutrition education. Congratulations to award recipients! Awarded sites and funding amounts can be viewed on the FFVP webpage.
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Annual Training Requirement
Training is required to participate in this program.
All FFVP Sponsors, whether new or returning, must complete annual training. New sponsors or returning sponsors with new staff must take FFVP 101. Returning sponsors may fulfill this requirement by taking FFVP 201 or repeating FFVP 201. These courses will be offered virtually on Canvas, OSPI’s Learning Management System. FFVP training sessions will not be offered at in-person Annual Training this August.
FFVP 101 will review aspects of the program including menu planning, incorporating nutrition education into the school environment, and accommodating students with special dietary needs.
FFVP 201 will review program basics and help sponsors develop an actionable plan to implement nutrition education. FFVP 201 is under development but will be available by August 2024.
Once both courses are available, sponsors with approved FFVP sites will be notified via email with a link to enroll in one of the two courses.
Questions? Please email Rachel Floyd, Special Programs Specialist.
Power Up Your Program is a new opportunity designed to bring Child Nutrition Program peers from across Washington together to network, learn together, and take action on similar goals over the school year.
Register now to join Power Up Your Program for 2024–2025!
Two action-focused pathways are available for 2024–2025:
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Nutrition education: Power up healthier choices
- Culturally inclusive meals, menus & nutrition education
Each pathway begins in October 2024 and will support successful local actions through:
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Online training—completed at your convenience
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Peer-to-peer connections and monthly networking calls
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Support from community partners
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One-on-one support from the OSPI Training Team
We’ll start by identifying opportunities and teaming up with partners. From that, you will choose which actions to take and learn how to sustain and build on your efforts. Along the way, there will be opportunities for local, statewide, and national recognition of your efforts. Join us to Power Up your program!
Ready to Register? Please complete the registration form to enroll. *Note: Each pathway is limited to 25 participants. We encourage you to register early.
Questions? Email Shannon Delaney, Project Coordinator, or Erica Lamson, Project Director.
Power Up Your Program is funded using U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Team Nutrition grant funds. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
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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 USDA Meal Pattern Final Rule, Smart Snacks, Team Nutrition Training Grants, 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: DoubleTree by Hilton Spokane City Center & Convention Center
Dates: Monday, July 29–Wednesday, July 31
Cost:
Manager/ Employee—$225 | Directors/ Supervisors/ Chef—$275 | Non-Members—Managers/Employee $350 or Directors/Supervisors/Chefs $450
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USDA hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
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We proudly announce that Colville School District and West Valley School District - Yakima received Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards for making improvements to the nutrition quality of their school meals!
Awarded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in collaboration with Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK), both districts received the Innovation in the Preparation of School Meals Award.
Colville SD also received the Lunch Trailblazer Award and the Small or Rural School Food Authority Lunch Trailblazer Award!
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Colville SD reduced sodium at lunch by as much as 500mg weekly by switching to using local ground beef and scratch making menu items such as Meatballs, Hamburgers, Tacos, Chili, and Spaghetti. They also sourced new lower-sodium bread, and started using their own blends of herbs and spices instead of salt to add flavor to meals, and making their own Ranch Dressing which has reduced sodium in the popular condiment by 50%.
West Valley SD (Yakima) added new scratch made recipes to their menu rotation, including Butter Chicken, Beef Stroganoff, and Salmon Sushi Bowls. The beef and salmon in these recipes were locally sourced, and all three recipes were popular with students.
Check out the Healthy Meals Incentives website to learn more!
Farm to School Pre-WSNA Conference event in Spokane
Sunday, July 28, 2024 1:00pm–5:00pm WSNA will host a pre-conference Field to Flavor event. The event includes a tour of CasaCano Farms, a vegetable and livestock farm, who sells to school districts and whose pork and beef was distributed through the Local Foods for Schools project.
The event will then head to the Freeman School District kitchen to test some of the most popular farm to school dishes in the Eastern WA region. Learn tips and tricks for cooking these items, as well as how to enhance flavor and add choices with toppings bars.
Participants will receive 4 hours CEUs. There is a $60.00 registration fee that includes round trip transportation from the conference hotel.
Register here by July 15, 2024 to secure your spot.
Harvest of the Summer
To support sponsors in integrating local foods into your Summer meals, OSPI is excited to feature Harvest of the Summer resource sheets. Each week for the month of July and August we will highlight one local food that will be in season. The resource sheets include fun facts, nutritional information, selection and storage tips, recipe ideas, and educational resources/activities.
For August, we are featuring Watermelon, Cherry Tomatoes, Basil, and Cantaloupe. You can find this, and future Harvest of the Summer resource sheets on our Farm to Summer webpage.
If you want to follow along with OSPI's Harvest of the Month features, use the 2024 – 2025 Harvest of the Month Calendar.
Farm to Summer Week — July 15–19
Happy Farm to Summer Week!
OSPI celebrates the use of locally produced food in SFSP and can’t wait to see the great efforts you’ve made to include local foods and nutrition or agricultural enrichment activities into your meal service.
Don't forget to share your Farm to Summer success stories on social media using #WAFarmtoSummer.
Want to learn more about how to integrate local farm fresh foods into your meal service? Check out these resources:
USDA Foods Commodity Rates
USDA recently released the Value of Donated Foods rates for July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025. The SY 2024–25 per meal rate for NSLP and CACFP is $0.2950 cents, which is a decrease from $0.3000 in SY 2022–23.
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For NSLP the effective SY 2024–25 NSLP rate is $0.3650 (the sum of the per meal rate ($0.2950 cents) plus the 12% provision dollars and the $20M breakfast monies). The Planned Assistance Level (PAL) is based on the Total Lunches Served from the previous school year.
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The CACFP per meal cash in lieu of USDA foods rate is $0.2950. The Planned Assistance Level (PAL) is based on the total number of lunches and suppers served from the previous school year.
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July 15
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June Claims Due in WINS by 5pm
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July 22
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NSLP Annual Training Registration Closes
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July 30
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May 60-Day Claim Deadline—if you haven't already, submit your claim
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