The Central Colorado Co-op is sharing this planning document that houses operational plans for the upcoming school year, including information around safety measures, serving lines, menus, and training. The co-op encourages sponsors to add their operational plans to the document and to share it with their networks.
For questions, contact Sarah Blaida, Nutrition Manager of Operations for Adams 12 School District, at sarah.k.blaida@adams12.org or (720)-972-6032.
Program Tips
Submit the 2020-21 school nutrition programs application
Sponsors can now complete and submit the 2020-21 school year school nutrition programs application. Detailed application instructions are available on the How to Apply webpage. The application will be completed in the Colorado Nutrition Portal. Keep in mind that applications are due at the end of September and can take up to three weeks to approve.
For questions, please contact the nutrition consultant assigned to the application in the Portal.
Back-to-school procurement considerations
Use this School Nutrition Unit resource, which includes school year tips and best practices, as well as important questions to consider while planning for procurement for the upcoming school year. Visit the procurement webpage to learn more about the procurement process.
The Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) invites child nutrition professionals to join its upcoming STAR (Strategies Training Action Plans Resources) webinar
Thursday, July 30: Maintaining Customer Service While Serving at a Distance. Learn from professionals in the field who maintained high-quality customer service during the 2019-20 school closures and the best practices and key information they are including in their back-to-school plans.
The school meal eligibility online training sessions have been updated with 2020-21 Income Eligibility Guidelines. The training sessions are a three-part series that take approximately 20 minutes to complete. View the training series on the School Nutrition Professional Development webpage.
The Colorado Department of Human Services announced families began receiving Pandemic-EBT benefits on Wednesday, July 22. Read the full press release.
More than 360,000 Colorado children are eligible for P-EBT benefits, which reimburse families for the free and reduced-price meals students missed while schools were closed in March, April and May because of COVID-19.
Families who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, or food stamps, and whose children attend a school that participates in the National School Lunch Program, can expect to have benefits automatically loaded onto their EBT cards through Friday, July 31. Eligible families who don’t receive an automatic payment will need to apply for P-EBT funds. The application for P-EBT is expected to open at the end of this month. For more information including FAQs, training and resources visit the CDHS P-EBT webpage.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, in collaboration with CDE, released new guidance for the fall opening of schools this week. The guidance will help local public health agencies work with districts and schools to ensure the safest learning environment possible during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing specific recommendations schools should consider based on the level of COVID-19 in their communities.
Additionally, the guidance has age-group specific recommendations on mask-wearing, physical distancing, and keeping students in cohorts.
The guidelines are based on current evidence that suggests the risk of COVID-19 transmission between younger children and from younger children to adults is low, so preschools and elementary schools have different guidelines than middle schools and high schools.
The guidance is based on the latest science and health recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics and others. The guidance incorporates feedback and ideas from a variety of sources, including an advisory committee of education stakeholders and a focus group of doctors, epidemiologists, local public health directors, and superintendents -- as well as thousands of written comments from parents, teachers, and community members.
For More Information, contact Dr. Rhonda Haniford, associate commissioner- School Quality and Support, at haniford_r@cde.state.co.us or 303-866-6202.
