School meal participation declined 53% for the period of March through June 2020 compared to the same time period in 2019 (22.7 million meals in 2020 vs. 48.5 million meals in 2019). However, the participation percentage decline for June 2020 compared to June 2019 was much lower (31%). Excitingly, preliminary numbers show that July 2020 outperformed July 2019 by 1.86 million meals representing a 93% increase in meals served.
Rob's Latest and Greatest
I want to begin by congratulating everyone on getting through the first days or weeks of school. There has been an incredible amount of change and challenges put on your already full plates. I am impressed with how School Nutrition Professionals around the Commonwealth have greeted children and teens entering an unfamiliar school year with a familiar and nourishing meal served with a smile. As you can see from the meal participation data from this past Spring compared to Spring 2019, meals are expectedly down. However, we are seeing an upward trend. This upward trend represents your hard work to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of children and teens in our communities. We know that many of your programs have struggled financially over the past few months. We hope that our new promotional efforts in collaboration with Project Bread's Child Nutrition Outreach Program and our continued work with our state and federal partners will help increase engagement this school year.
Opportunities for Support:
We are glad that our Supporting Operations Series has provided a place for everyone to connect, share solutions, and frustrations over common challenges. We encourage you to begin or continue to use this space to celebrate your successes and work through persistent roadblocks.
On October 14th, we are also hosting an SSO 101 webinar for for any district that is totally new or continuing SSO and looking for regulatory and operational guidance on how to operate this fall.
Due to the high level of engagement in our Town Halls, we extended this series through 2020. Save this invitation and mark your calendars for 2:00 pm on:
As always, please reach out to a member of our team if you have any questions, and thank you for all that you do.
Stay Healthy,
Robert M Leshin
NSLP & SSO applications are now available for you!
This week we were able to finalize instructions for everyone who is looking to transition to the Seamless Summer Option. We want to emphasize a few essential concepts in this process specifically around:
New Massachusetts Specific School Meal Marketing Graphics
“Project Bread’s Child Nutrition Outreach Program is now offering *new* school meal marketing graphics and a social media toolkit to school districts and community sponsors serving meals through the fall. These promotional materials are designed for schools and community sponsors to advertise their meal programs, emphasize that meals this fall are free for all, and ensure families know that they help your district when they participate. By increasing awareness of and participation in your programs, we can make sure all kids and teens have access to free meals during the fall semester and increase revenue for your programs in the process!
3 Good reasons why you should run Direct Certification (DC) regularly this school year:
Even though meals are universally free for SSO and SFSP, the 8/31 announcement extends SSO and SFSP only until 12/31/20. Therefore, it is important to continue to run DC to ensure eligibility is in place in the event we return to NSLP midyear.
Running DC is important to set Identified Student Percentages (ISPs) for Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) in future school years.
Pandemic EBT will be issued for September 2020 and may be authorized through September 2021. Running DC will be important if P-EBT gets renewed through the year to ensure all Free or Reduced-Price students receive this benefit.
Meal Benefit Resources and Tips:
Continue to collect and approve household applications: to ensure eligibility is in place in the event we return to NSLP midyear and to catch newly eligible students for P-EBT benefit issuance.
Use edited Household letters: We are working on edited versions of DC letters to households to clarify that meals are currently free and this new Free or Reduced-Price eligibility will be used in the event there is a return to NSLP.
Utilize the Appeals process: Appeals, as always, will be honored this year. This process may be used more often this year because family financial scenarios could be complicated by changes in unemployment benefits, job status and economic unit changes.
Verification Temporarily Suspended for SSO and SFSP sponsors: In the absence of guidance from USDA, the NSLP/SBP verification requirements are currently suspended for SFAs operating SSO or SFSP as late as December 31, 2020. As DESE awaits USDA guidance regarding verification for SFAs operating SSO or SFSP, it is encouraged to start the initial, internal steps which include creating the sample size and identifying error-prone applications, and hold short of notifying households. DESE will provide additional guidance on next steps as it becomes available. SFAs operating NSLP/SBP are required to meet verification requirements.
Brown Box Food Orders placed for Spring 2020 USDA Deadlines have been reviewed.
We have canceled orders for many products that have not been ordered by districts March – September 2020. Bringing in more product that is not being ordered and paying high storage costs does not help anyone’s financial situation.
USDA is still working through MA’s wish list. We will fully update once USDA has confirmed the status of all requests.
In addition, we have placed new orders for the grab & go type products that have been readily ordered by Districts March – September 2020.
Any district that committed funds for SY 20-21 can utilize these funds now, do not wait until 10/1/2020 to begin using your funds.
Processing / Diversion:
Any district that committed funds for SY 20-21 to Processing can utilize these pounds now. If your pounds need to be transferred to a different company, please contact Belinda Wilson for assistance with options available.
Updated COVID 19 Protocols for Symptomatic Individuals
An individual who does not wish to be tested may return to school 10 days from start of symptoms, as long as their symptoms have improved and they have been without a fever for 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing medications. To learn more about health and safety-related to COVID-19, check out the Virtual Nuts & Bolts of School Nutrition Presentation: Wellness, Health and Safety for Staff.
Are you looking for an easy way to search for local Massachusetts products for your district?
Well look no further- the Massachusetts Department of Marine Resources has created an incredible new online tool to do just that!
This online tool called MassGrown Exchange will give farmers, fishermen, and producers the ability to connect with a wide variety of buyers such as schools. Through the exchange, both sellers and potential buyers can search for local foods as well as equipment in one easy location. Visit the MassGrown Exchange website with easy to use tutorials and information on how to register.
Directors Ask, DESE Answers
Q: In regards to SSO. We are currently under a hybrid model. When offering curbside meals for remote students, are we considered a closed site, or do we have to give meals to anyone who wants one?
Cordially, Hybrid Haywire
A: That is a local decision. If you would like to distribute a meal curbside for any child, you can do so without verifying their attendance in your district. This would be defined as an open site. If you would like to only distribute a meal curbside to children who are enrolled in your district you would need to confirm their identity at the point of service. This would be defined as a closed site.
Q:Can I sell milk or other foods a la carte?
Regards, Stoked to Sell
A: Yes, you can sell competitive foods and beverages in SSO and SFSP.
Q: If students bring lunch from home and the next day they are remote learning, do we need to provide breakfast to them?
Sincerely, Bewitched by Breakfast
A: You need to make breakfast (if you operate SBP) and lunch available to any student that wants one. If your district is mandated to serve breakfast, meals must be made available.
Q: Can you clarify on claiming meal counts. For example, we had 5 families that did not pick up their meals which were already prepared. Can I claim those 5 meals?
My best, Petrified of Pre-Orders
A: No, you can only claim a meal at the point of service. If a parent pre-orders a meal it has not yet been served. You can not claim or charge the parent for that meal.
Q: I am confused about Open/Closed sites. I know I don't have the capabilities to serve students in and out of school at the same time
Signed Sincerely, Exhausted & Confused
A: You are not the only one who is confused! You do not have to serve meals to in-person learners through your closed site AND serve remote learners and your community in an open site at the SAME EXACT TIME. You can operate these sites at different times and on different days. For an example of 1 out of the 1000 ways you could operate:
If you have a Hybrid model where students attend in-person learning on Monday/Tuesday and then are remote Wednesday - Friday, you could operate two separate sites:
A closed site that would serve in person meals on Monday & Tuesday during your normal lunchtime of 11:00 am - 12:30 pm.
An open site that would serve 3 days’ worth of remote meals on Wednesday from 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm.
I would work with your DESE consultant to determine the best way to set up your sites and mealtimes in a way that works best for your team and your community. Open sites will be made publicly available on Project Bread's Child Nutrition Outreach Programs' site finder.
1st: Verification can begin **continue only the initial, internal steps of verification which include the internal steps of creating the sample size and identifying error-prone applications.
30th: First-Quarter Profit and Loss State is due
November
1st: Run Direct Certification
Reminders: Begin the breakfast and lunch Accuclaim process (for districts/agencies with two or more schools/sites) and complete it by February 1, 2021
