School Nutrition Program

Copies of Previous Years Administrative Reviews are available upon request. 

Beginning of School Year - - - All families must receive the Letter to Households and Application for Free and Reduced-Price Meals. (Students from households with approved applications or listed on Direct Certification on STARS from the previous year must be allowed a 30 day carry-over of the previous eligibility determination. Once a current year application is received, it takes precedence over the previous year’s application.)

Note: Application Processing Time frame: Free and Reduced-Price Meal Applications must be reviewed and an eligibility determination made within 10 working days of receipt of the application. The completed (including last 4 of SSN), signed application must be dated when it is received. The determining official must date, sign, and document eligibility on the application as well for eligibility to be valid.

NEW:  Also required – Parents and staff must receive a WRITTEN copy of the school district’s Unpaid Meal Charge Policy at the beginning of each year.  Students transferring during the year must also receive a written copy of the policy.

10th of Each Month - - - The claim for reimbursement for each site is due for submission over the ND Foods system for prompt payment. (You do have 60 calendar days to complete/submit your claim.)

Annually - - - Civil Rights training must be done annually for everyone working with the School Food service program including substitutes, front office personnel and cafeteria cleaners. Document the person trained, day of training and training material.

The Racial/Ethnic Data Form must be completed sometime during the school year and retained in the school’s file.

Hours of Professional Development for school food service staff must also be documented: 12 hours for food service directors, 10 hours for food service manager, 6 hours for all other full time staff and 4 hours for part time (<20 hr/wk).  Civil Rights training can be used as professional development.

On Site reviews for any school districts that have more than one meal site… Every program year, sponsors with more than one food service site must perform at least one on-site review of each site under its jurisdiction. The on-site review must take place prior to February 1. The review is to ensure that the claim is based on the approved counting system and that the system, as implemented, yields the actual number of reimbursable free, reduced-price and paid meals served for each day of operation. A “Site Monitoring for National School Lunch and Breakfast” form is located on the Child Nutrition web site.

Monitoring Reviews for After School Snack Program … Each After school Snack Program must be reviewed by the Sponsor two times a year. The first review must be conducted during the first four weeks of each school year. A “NSLP/After School Snack Program Sponsor Monitor Review” form is located on the Child Nutrition web site.

Breakfast/Summer Meals Outreach… If a school is participating in either or both of these programs, there is a requirement to inform families of the availability of these meals just before the program begins (before school starts with breakfast and before school ends for summer meals) and then send reminders several times throughout the school year in different formats – PA announcements, articles in the school newspaper, email, etc… so all families are reached.

First 30 days of school - - - Carry over student free/reduced price eligibility from the previous year. Once a new application or direct certification has been received, update the student eligibility immediately.

September - - -ND Farm to School Month

September 17, 2020- - -Ag in the Classroom School Lunch Day

October 1st - - - This is the date that determines the number of applications to be verified. Record the number of approved applications on the district Verification Collection Report listed below, due on December 15.

31st day of School (usually around the first week of October; count your school days to make sure) - - - Change student eligibility status to paid if an eligible application or direct certification has not been received by this date.

October 5-9, 2020 - - - North Dakota Crunch Off   Crunch an awesome apple, cute carrots or crispy cucumbers. We are in competition with Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota and more. Find something and CRUNCH!!

October 19-23, 2020 - - - National School Lunch Week    This year’s theme: Now Playing - School Lunch   Check the School Nutrition Association website for more details: www.schoolnutrition.org

November 16 - - - Verification of 3% of Free and Reduced-Price Applications must be completed.

December 15 - - - Verification Summary Report due. Complete the fillable form on ND Foods

January 31 - - - On Site reviews for school districts with more than one food service site serving NSLP/SBP and 2 on site reviews for all After School Snack programs must be completed before February 1st each year. 

March 1-5, 2021 - - - School Breakfast Week   

This year’s theme: TBA:  School Breakfast   Check the School Nutrition Association website for more details: www.schoolnutrition.org

May 7, 2021:  1st Friday  - - - School Lunch Hero Day  

May, 1st week - - - School Nutrition Employee Week   The NDDPI encourages you to recognize staff members involved with providing nutrition to your the students.

Before the Last day of school - - - Two health inspections need to be performed on each school kitchen, annually.  Check to make sure the health inspector has been at each school twice.

June - - - Check your 05 Fund for Food Service for Excess Funds.  Do this by taking ONLY 05 Fund expenses, divide by 9 (months of school) multiply by 3 (months allowed for operating reserve).  Compare the 3-month average expense to the 05 Fund Ending Balance. If the Ending Balance is greater, than make sure to plan for dealing with the excess funds. You report your 05 Fund information to NDDPI in Sept/Oct and the State calculates an Excess Fund report from those numbers.

Also assess your Non-program food revenue versus cost.  All schools who purchase and sell non-reimbursable food including ala carte, seconds, adult meals, catered meals, etc. are required to make sure the revenues from all these areas exceed the cost to purchase and serve them. The tool is available on NDDPI website under ‘Tool’ – the Non Program Foods Revenue Calculator.

July - - - Update the annual Program Application for sponsor and site(s) online at ND Foods. The Average Attendance Factor reported under each site is the number of students that attended school each day over the year, not the average participation at lunch.  This number is also reported at the end of the year to NDDPI. 

Remember to check all contact information for correct names, emails and phone numbers so messages get to the right person.  Delete any staff that are no longer there and add new staff as needed.

Get ready for another awesome school year!