School Nutrition Newsletter
July 8, 2020
*NEW* School Re-Entry Guidance and Updates for School Nutrition Programs 2020 - 2021
- IDOE has released a Re-Entry Guidance Newsletter for schools.
- This newsletter will be continuously updated with guidance and information from IDOE and USDA.
- Click here to access the newsletter.
- Additionally, IDOE has created a webpage to house new resources from IDOE and USDA.
- Click here to access this webpage.
Direct Certification 2021 is Now Available!
- Sponsors can now download their first Direct Certification (DC) match list for school year 2020-2021.
- If you click to download your matches and the screen takes you back to the Dashboard without downloading an Excel Spreadsheet, then that means your pop-up blockers are preventing the download. To immediately access your download, click on the File Manager box. Then click on the file that appears at the top for the most recent download.
- If students who graduated are showing up and/or incoming prek/kindergarten students are not showing up, then most likely the Real Time (RT) or Enrollment and Mobility (EM) Reports are not updated for the new school year. Contact the person at your school system who works with these reports to get this updated.
- Bookmark the DC/DV Database, to quickly access Direct Certification and Direct Verification.
- Check out the Direct Certification web page for helpful DC resources:
- Direct Certification Quick Start - step by step instructions for using the system, recently updated for 2020-2021
- Direct Certification Fact Sheet - the most important reminders/instructions for the DC process
- SNAP and TANF Fact Sheet - explains how to apply eligibility using SNAP or TANF
- Direct Certification Frequently Asked Questions - a wide variety of common DC questions
- Additional resources on the DC web page includes notification letter templates; information about foster approval; Medicaid resources; and information for Homeless, Migrant, and Runaway Approval.
- Prefer to watch a webinar of the 2021 Direct Certification process? Access the Important Direct Certification Updates training on inTEAM.
- Click here to register for a live webinar on Thursday, July 23 at 9:00 a.m. ET about Direct Certification Frequently Asked Questions.
- Questions? Contact DC specialists using the new DC Help Form.
CNPweb 2021 School Nutrition Programs (SNP) is Open!
- PY 2021 SNP is now accessible in the CNPweb.
- In order to begin claiming reimbursement for PY 2021, Sponsor and Site Information Sheets must be completed and approved.
- Sponsors will have to submit offline forms to our office.
- To identify the documents that must be completed and submitted, view the Packet tab in the CNPweb after the Sponsor and Site Information Sheets have been completed. Anything with an asterisk (*) will indicate the forms that need to be submitted.
- All sponsors charging below $3.09 for student lunches need to submit a PLE Tool completed with the current year’s pricing information. Submit the PLE Tool to SCNFinance@doe.in.gov. See below for more information.
- All sponsors charging below $3.09 for student lunches need to submit a PLE Tool completed with the current year’s pricing information. Submit the PLE Tool to SCNFinance@doe.in.gov. See below for more information.
- New items have been added to the Sponsor and Site Information Sheets.
- On the Sponsor Information Sheet:
- #113-118 - Sponsors must enter their 504 Coordinator's Information. All sponsors with more than 15 employees must have a 504 Coordinator. Questions about 504 Coordinators? Contact Nicola Mousdicas at nmousdicas1@doe.in.gov. Click here for more information.
- #126 - The IDOE requires Food Service Directors to obtain Food Safety Certification every five years. This field asks for the date of the most recently received Food Safety Certification. Click here for more information.
- On the Site Information Sheet:
- #14 - In order to keep track of what how sponsors are operating this year, 1. Please use this field to explain if your site is eLearning only, on-site only, or a hybrid of both eLearning and on-site and 2. indicate the times of distribution when serving meals for off-site consumption. Please provide as much detail as you can, and do not forget to update this when plans change.
- #81-82 and #93-94 - If the school is only feeding students in a non-congregate, grab and go operation (i.e. implementing at home, eLearning only) then enter the distribution times here. If school is operating a hybrid meal service, enter the time that on-site lunch takes place. Please make sure to add under #14 what time meal service distribution will take place for non-congregate feeding.
- #143 - Sponsors should not be operating SSO once the official school year has begun (i.e. when eLearning and/or on-site).
- #189-193 - Indicate the number of food safety inspections for school year 2019-2020. If two food safety inspections were not received and a letter was not sent to the local health department, check the indicator "No health inspection was requested during school year 2019 - 2020."
- Don't see a button to submit applications for state approval? Make sure your Sponsor and Site Information Sheets are submitted with no errors, and if any offline form has an asterisk on the Packet tab, make sure the dates that the documents were sent have been entered.
- Please keep in mind that all sponsor and site sheets have to be manually approved by IDOE SCN staff members, so please have patience with our office during the approval process.
- Need a new site added to the CNPweb? Or a site removed? Contact Ashley Heller at aheller@doe.in.gov.
- Questions? Complete this CNPweb Help form to ensure that your questions get sent to the proper person to help best answer your question.
CNPweb Webinars
- IDOE will be hosting a webinar on the CNPweb Renewal Process twice in the month of July.
- This webinar will help walk individuals who are filling out their sponsor's CNPweb application information through the process and help answer any questions they may have.
The webinar will be held on Tuesday, July 15, at 1:00 p.m. ET and again on Tuesday, July 30, at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Click here to register.
PLE Tool
- The USDA PLE Tool for SY 2020 - 2021 is available.
- Each sponsor currently charging a weighted average price less than $3.09 for paid lunches will need to use the PLE Tool to determine the amount to increase their paid lunch prices for SY 2020-2021.
- The PLE Tool is located on IDOE's Pricing Guidance Webpage under Paid Lunch Equity (PLE). The webpage also includes step-by-step instructions for completing the tool.
- You will be required to submit the completed tool as part of your renewal documents for SY 2020-2021 to SCNFinance@doe.in.gov.
- Exemptions may be granted for the PLE requirement for schools that had a positive or zero balance in the nonprofit school food service account balance as of December 31, 2019. See below for more information.
- Questions? Contact the Finance Team at SCNFinance@doe.in.gov.
- All sponsors must complete and submit a PLE Tool as part of the school year renewal process. The only exception is if your school's weighted average price is at or above the target price of $3.09.
- If your school's weighted average price is at or above the target price of $3.09, you can send an email to SCNFinance@doe.in.gov letting us know your school's weighted price for the 2020-2021 school year. Please make sure to put your school number and school name in the emails subject line and reference PLE tool.
- Questions? Contact the Finance Team at SCNFinance@doe.in.gov.
PLE Exemption Requests
- Any sponsor with a positive or zero balance in its non-profit school food service account as of December 31, 2019, may be granted an exemption by the State Agency from the PLE Pricing Requirements.
- The exemption only exempts the school from having to raise prices according to the results of the PLE Tool, it does not eliminate the requirement to complete the PLE Tool, as this will be used in future years’ calculations.
- Complete the PLE Exemption form located on IDOE's Pricing Guidance Webpage and submit it along with proof of a positive or zero balance in your non-profit school food service account as of December 31, 2019, to SCNFinance@doe.in.gov.
- Sufficient documentation for the balance of the non-profit school food service account would be a bank statement, accounting software report, or ledger print-out showing the balance as of December 31, 2019.
- Questions? Contact the Finance Team at SCNFinance@doe.in.gov.
CNPweb PY 2021 Food Distribution Program (FDP) is Now Open!
- FDP is now open for school year 2020-2021 in the CNPweb.
- As a reminder, schools need to review their “Application” tab to ensure the correct information is listed on the sponsor application page and listed sites.
- In addition, once schools have recertified on the SNP side and are approved, they should follow these steps in order:
- Go to the green puzzle piece in CNPweb.
- Go to Program Year 2021.
- Click the applications tab.
- Click the blue “Edit” button.
- Review and update the Recipient Agency Information Sheet.
- Scroll down to the verification section, box #29 and place a check in the box.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click the submit button.
- You should now be pending approval.
- If you follow the above steps and see the message below then you still have steps to complete on the SNP purple puzzle piece side - "You do not currently have a NSLP information sheet for Program Year 2020 in a Pending Approval or Approved status. You must complete the enrollment process for the National School Lunch Program before your FDP information sheet can be Certified and Approved."
- Questions? Contact Cheryl Moore at cmoore@doe.in.gov.
FDP Information and Updates
- State assigned warehouses, Dilgard, McFarling, Stanz and Wabash deliveries have ended for school year 2019-2020.
- Information is forthcoming regarding when deliveries will resume for school year 2020-2021.
- Don't forget! The contract between IDOE and McFarling Foods ended as of June 30, 2020.
- Schools are being transitioned from McFarling to Dilgard Foods the upcoming school year.
- Also, schools that were assigned Dilgard as their warehouse in school year 2019-2020 are being transitioned to Stanz Foodservice with the exception of schools located in Hamilton, Marion and Johnson counties.
- Please note - IDOE has cancelled the Procuring USDA Foods training scheduled for September.
- Questions? Contact Cheryl Moore at cmoore@doe.in.gov.
Indiana Department of Education - School and Community Nutrition
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this newsletter, please contact Allie Caito-Sipe at acaito@doe.in.gov, call (317) 232-0849, or toll-free at 1-800-537-1142 ext. 20849, or contact Ashley Heller at aheller@doe.in.gov, call (317) 232-0544, or toll-free at 1-800-537-1142 ext. 20544.
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Website: https://www.doe.in.gov/nutrition
Phone: (317) 232-0850
Twitter: @EducateIN