ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
School Nutrition Programs Newsletter
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Offer versus Serve (OVS) National School Lunch Program Posters and Lunch and Breakfast OVS Tip sheets!
The Offer versus Serve (OVS) Lunch Posters for elementary, middle and high school students may be used as signage to instruct students to select a reimbursable meal under OVS. The OVS tip sheets are intended for use by school foodservice staff to enhance their understanding of OVS requirements at breakfast and lunch.
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A Note from School Nutrition Programs
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Welcome to School Year 2019-2020!
Reminders:
- Public Outreach Requirements
- As required at 7 CFR 245.5(a), near the beginning of each school year the public must be notified that free and reduced price meals and free milk are available. This notice must include the eligibility criteria for free and reduced price meals or free milk. The public notice must be provided to the local news media, the unemployment office, and any major employers contemplating large layoffs in the attendance area of the school [7 CFR 245.5(a)(2)].
- Be sure to check out the School Breakfast Program & Summer Food Service Program Outreach
- Carryover of Previous Year’s Eligibility
- For purposes of the CNPs, carryover refers to a child’s eligibility from the previous school year being carried over into the current or new school year. According to 7 CFR 245.6(c)(2), an individual student’s eligibility from the previous school year (before July 1) carries over for up to 30 operating days into the new school year, or until a new eligibility determination is made, whichever comes first. The 30 operating days begins on the first operating day of school. Operating days are the days on which reimbursable meals or milk are provided by a school
- Carryover Between LEAs
- When children move to a new LEA, either at the beginning of the new school year or during the summer months, the new LEA is encouraged to use the former LEA’s eligibility determination from the previous school year and carryover the child’s eligibility status. As stated in 7 CFR 245.6(a)(4), the receiving school may accept the former school’s eligibility determination without incurring liability for the accuracy of the determination. LEAs opting to do this can use the former LEA’s eligibility determination for up to 30 operating days, or until a new eligibility determination is made, whichever comes first. FNS strongly encourages carryover between LEAs to ensure students do not experience a gap in school meal access.
Q&A
- May schools require all households to complete and submit an application for free and reduced price meals?
- No. Schools may not require households to complete and submit an application. It is the household’s choice to complete and submit an application for meal benefits. However, LEAs must inform households that they may receive meal benefits if they are eligible.
- May schools include IEGs for free school meals, in addition to including the IEGs for reduced price meals, when sending out the application and any descriptive materials?
- No. The application and any descriptive materials distributed to households may only contain the income levels for reduced price school meal eligibility. This requirement is statutory [42 U.S.C 1758 (b)(2)(B)(i) and (ii)].
Did you know?
Direct
certification allows LEAs to certify children as eligible for free meal benefits using participant data from other means-tested programs (as permitted),
eliminating the need for an application
.
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USDA Foods in Schools
This applies to all LEAs participating in USDA Foods and/or Department of Defense Fresh Produce Program
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Approval Reminders
:
- National School Lunch Program (NSLP) application submission and approval,
- Update delivery site and contact information (even if you do not make any changes, you must still click the update button),
- Request a PO from your business office and send a copy to 4I-DL-USDA@usfood.com to pay delivery fees, and
- Finally, set your status to “active” is a manual process. Please note, although you may have completed all the steps listed, myFOODS will not display “active” until the USDA Foods in Schools Program manually updates your status. This may take up to 48 hours. School Food Programs is doing their best to have all Recipient Agencies (RAs) activated by mid-August, when trucks are scheduled to arrive. To review, visit the “My Agency” page in myFOODS to determine the status of your NSLP application and updates.
Direct Delivery Inventory Reminder
:
- For schools that are participating in the USDA Foods in Schools Program, trucks are scheduled for mid-August. As a benefit, RAs are encouraged to use Surplus List for those with remaining entitlement. Please check this list on myFOODS! Click here to review the anticipated surplus items.
DoD Fresh Produce Program Welcome Back Reminders
:
- Please take a moment to read the Welcome Back DoD Fresh Letter as it provides helpful information pertaining to the rules for the program and updates for the new school year. The welcome back letter is located in the documents section in myFOODS and can be found by filtering PROGRAM RESOURCE.
- If you have any new users that you would like to add to the FFAVORS system, please send their name and contact information to the DoD Fresh Program Specialist.
- The DoD set aside amount in myFOODS for School Year (SY)2019-2020 has been added to the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Ordering Receipt System (FFAVORS). Please log in to your account and verify that the correct amount was placed in your account. If there are any discrepancies, please contact the DoD Fresh Program Specialist at Regan.Garner@azed.gov
Arizona Farm to Schools Opportunity:
The Farm Fresh Challenge to NSLP SFAs webinar is schedule for
July 31, 2019 at 2:30PM
to help SFAs prepare for National Farm to School Month in October. The Farm Fresh Challenge is an initiative of the Health and Nutrition Services Division to encourage SFAs to 1) source and serve Arizona products, 2) offer nutrition education to students, and to 3) celebrate with their school communities by posting on social media or their organization’s website using the hash tags #FarmFreshAZ or #farmtoschool. This webinar will be recorded and distributed tot hose that
register on EMS
.
Congratulations, USDA Farm to School Grant Awardees!
Last week, USDA announce their
2019 Farm to School Grants
. On an annual basis, USDA awards competitive Farm to School grants to be used for training, supporting operations, planning, purchasing equipment, developing school gardens, developing partnerships, and implementing farm to school programs. This included two awarded proposals from Arizona (2), congratulations to:
- Gilbert Public Schools
- Prescott Unified School District
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Back to School Nights and Meet the Teacher Nights are perfect occasions to inform parents about your Local Wellness Policy and recruit members of your Wellness Committee. Check out
Team Nutrition’s Local School Wellness Policy Outreach Toolkit
for resources to help you promote school wellness with parents, teachers, principals, and the community at large!
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As always, if you have any questions or need additional information or assistance, please feel free to contact your School Nutrition Programs Specialist. We can also be reached at our group email:
ADESchoolNutrition@azed.gov.
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