The National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. The program was established under the National School Lunch Act, signed by President Harry Truman in 1946.
School Nutrition Programs Include:
School Breakfast Program / National School Lunch Program / Special Milk Program / After School Snack Program
Waiver Requests
Anne Carlson
Beach
Bowbells
Central Cass
Christ the King
Fargo
Flasher
Fort Ransom
Grace Lutheran
Harvey
Jamestown
Leeds
Lidgerwood
Milnor
Ojibwa-Belcourt
St. John School
Stanley
UTTC
Wyndmere
Previous Administrative Review Summaries are available upon request at DpiCNFD@nd.gov.
2023-2024
Anne Carlson; Beach; Bishop Ryan Minot; Bowbells; Carrington; Central Cass; Christ the King; Drake; Dunseith Day; Fargo; Flasher; Fort Ransom; Grace Lutheran; Harvey; Jamestown; Lakota; Langdon Area; Leeds; Lidgerwood; Lisbon; Manvel; Milnor; Minot Public; NDYCC-Mandan; Nedrose; New Rockford; New Town; North Sargent; Ojibwa-Belcourt; Solen Public; St. John School; Stanley; United Public; UTTC; Valley-Edinburg; Velva; West Fargo; Williams County; Wyndmere
2024-2025
Anamoose; Belfield; Beulah; Billings County; Bismarck; Burke Central; Cavalier; Devils Lake; Edgeley; Ellendale; Emerado; Fairmount; Fessenden; Fordville-Lankin; Four Winds; Gackle-Streeter; Grafton; Grand Forks; Hatton; Hazelton-Moffit-Brad; Kenmare; Killdeer; Linton; Maddock; Mandan; Martin Luther; Midway; Newburg; Northern Cass; Oakes; Oberon; Pingree/Buchanan; Rugby; St. Joseph's-Williston; Sterling; Strasburg; Turtle Lake/Mercer; Valley City; Wahpeton; Washburn
2025-2026
Belcourt Schools; Belcourt St. Ann's; Dakota Boys Ranch; Divide County; Drayton; Dunseith; Elgin; Fort Yates Public; GF Juvenile Det; Glenburn; Holy Family; Home the Range; Kulm; Lewis & Clark; Mandaree; Mohall; Munich; NE Human Services; New Salem; Pride Manchester House; Richland #44; Roosevelt/Carson; Sawyer; Scranton; Selfridge; Shiloh; South Prairie; St Johns-Wahpeton; St Josephs-DL; St Michaels-GF; Standing Rock; Surrey; Warwick; Westhope; White Shield; Wing
2026-2027
Alexander; Bakker; Barnes County North; Bottineau; Bowman County; Circle of Nations; Dickinson Catholic; Edmore; Eight Mile Public; Enderlin Area; Grenora; Hazen; Hebron; Hettinger; Hillsboro; Hope Page; Kensal; Kindred; Light Of Christ; Little Flower-Rugby; Maple Valley; Mapleton; Mayville; McClusky; Midkota; Minto; New England; North Star-Cando; Northwood; Oak Grove; Park River; Rolette; St. Alphonsus; St. Joseph-Mandan; St. Catherine-Valley Cty; St. John's Jamestown; Kidder County-Steele; St John Paul II; Tioga; Underwood
2027-2028
Ashley; Center; Central Valley; Dakota Prairie; Dickinson; Finley-Sharon; Garrison; Glen Ullin; Golva; Griggs Cty; Hankinson; LaMoure; Larimore; Litchville-Marion; Max; McKenzie County; Medina; Menoken; Minnewaukan; Montpelier; Mott/Regent; Mt Pleasant-Rolla; Napoleon; North Dakota School of Deaf; Nesson (Ray); North Border; Parshall; Powers Lake; Richardton-Taylor; South Heart; St. Bernard's; Starkweather; TGU; Thompson; Twin Buttes; Wilton; Wishek; Yellowstone; Zeeland
JUNE 2023
- June 1-10 (best practice) Submit May reimbursement claim in ND Foods
- Be sure program forms are current for the new school year
- SY 23-24 Household Application
- SY 23-24 Income Eligibility Guidelines
- Confirm Nondiscrimination Statement is up-to-date on the website, all program letters, and other media
- Double-check that your food safety/HACCP plan is up-to-date
- Review and update your Local Wellness Policy. If this is the year for the triennial assessment, get started.
- Update your Unpaid Meal Charge Policy
- Make sure applicable staff have access to STARS for Direct Certification
- Review proper procedures for all procurement methods (micro, small and formal) before beginning to make purchases
- Update the Civil Rights complaint log
- Calculate meal pricing for all those who eat school meals. Student pricing is set using the Paid Lunch Equity Tool. Increase adult meal prices as well.
- Finalize the Nonprogram Foods Revenue Tool, if anything other than meals are sold through the food service account.
- Compare the 05 School Foodservice account balance with 3 months of operating expenses to figure excess funds. Make a plan to spend excess funds before sending financial information to DPI.
- Prepare SY 22-23 program records for retention for three years (plus the current school year).
- Discard SY 18-19 program records for retention, unless an audit is being done on these records.
JULY 2023
- July 1-10 (best practice) Submit June reimbursement claim in ND Foods
- July 1 until completed: Before the first claim of the new school year can be submitted, the SNP renewal must be approved in ND Foods.
NO SOONER THAN JULY 1
- Review first required direct certification in STARS: Direct Certification, send notification letters, and update Benefit Issuance Document (BID) either paper or in the computer software.
- Households must receive a written copy of the school district’s Unpaid Meal Charge Policy each year.
- Distribute household applications with parent letters to only those students who are not directly certified
- Begin processing household applications with SY 23-24 income guidelines, send notification letters, and update BID
AUGUST 2023
- August 1-10 (best practice) Submit July reimbursement claim in ND Foods
- BEST PRACTICES PRIOR TO SCHOOL STARTING
- Provide outreach to households for the School Breakfast Program (SBP) at the beginning of school and at least once again during the school year (required only if operating SBP)
- Create Professional Standards plans for all School Nutrition Program Staff. Food service directors need 12 hours of training each year. Fulltime requires 6 hours; Parttime (less than 20 hrs/wk) needs 4 hours.
- Review Civil Rights training every year for every staff member involved in school meal programs including the Afterschool Snack program. Ensure the ‘And Justice For All’ poster is publicly displayed.
- Post point of service (POS) meal signage. Train Offer vs. Serve (OVS) to all staff, if applicable
SEPTEMBER 2023 – ND Farm to School Month
- September 1-10 (best practice) Submit August reimbursement claim in ND Foods
- (best practice) Review direct certification in STARS.
- September 15 Celebrate Ag in the Classroom (Formerly Pride of Dakota).
- FIRST FOUR WEEKS OF OPERATING AFTERSCHOOL SNACK Complete internal After School Snack Onsite Monitoring – Find 2 copies of this Monitoring sheet in the Afterschool Snack Production Record Book.
- September 26 Celebrate MPRO Apple Crunch on Johnny Appleseed’s birthday.
OCTOBER 2023
- October 1-10 (best practice) Submit September reimbursement claim in ND Foods.
- October 1 Begin verification activities
- Review direct certification in STARS at least every 3 months.
- October 10-14 Celebrate National School Lunch Week/“Peace, Love & School Lunch”
NOVEMBER 2023
- November 1-10 (best practice) Submit October reimbursement claim in ND Foods.
- (best practice) Review direct certification in STARS.
- November 16 Submit Verification Report FNS-742 in ND Foods.
DECEMBER 2023
- December 1-10 (best practice) Submit November reimbursement claim in ND Foods
- (best practice) Review direct certification in STARS.
JANUARY 2024
- January 1-10 (best practice) Submit December reimbursement claim in ND Foods
- Review direct certification in STARS at least every 3 months.
- Start procurement for School Year 24-25.
FEBRUARY 2024
- February 1-10 (best practice) Submit January reimbursement claim in ND Foods
- (best practice) Review direct certification in STARS.
- February 1 Last day to complete internal On-site Monitoring Form (required if more than one site)
MARCH 2024 – National Nutrition Month
- March 1-10 (best practice) Submit February reimbursement claim in ND Foods
- (best practice) Review direct certification in STARS.
- March 4-8 Celebrate National School Breakfast Week/ “Surfs up with School Breakfast”
APRIL 2024
- April 1-10 (best practice) Submit March reimbursement claim in ND Foods
- Review direct certification in STARS at least every 3 months.
- April 1 Request Years of Service or Retirement certificate for SNP staff serving 10, 15 & every 5 years after.
- April 3 Request 2nd Health Inspection if it has not been done. Ensure health reports are publicly displayed.
- Review the second internal After School Snack Onsite Monitoring – Find a copy of this Monitoring sheet in the Afterschool Snack Production Record Book. Leave the audits in the book for easy filing.
MAY 2024 – School Lunch Hero Month
- May 1-10 (best practice) Submit April reimbursement claim in ND Foods
- Celebrate School Lunch Heros Week on the first Friday of May.
- Provide outreach to households for the availability of Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) feeding sites in your area as well as nationwide
JUNE 2024
- June 1-10 (best practice) Submit May reimbursement claim in ND Foods