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Food and Nutrition Programs

School Meals Communication Plan for School Year 2022-2023

To:Child Nutrition Program Operators of the National School Lunch Program
From:Robert M. Leshin, Director
Office for Food and Nutrition Programs
Date:July 1, 2022

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), Office for Food and Nutrition Programs (FNP) strives to communicate clearly and consistently with operators of Child Nutrition Programs to support program compliance and the sharing of best practices. In School Year 2022-2023 (SY 22-23) FNP is providing a variety of learning opportunities for School Food Authorities (SFAs) operating the National School Lunch Program, National School Breakfast Program and Afterschool Snack Program (School Meals). Please review the schedules below and register for:

  • DESE's Tuesdays at 2: to stay current and connect with the school meal community
  • Nuts and Bolts of School Nutrition Programs Virtual Summer Series: to get a clear understanding of program compliance

New Feature: USDA Foods Communication tab in the USDA Foods Orders section of the DESE Security Portal will provide time sensitive updates on: First Come First Serve, planned sweeps and recalls. Please check this tab regularly to make the most of entitlement opportunities and barriers.

For any questions related to these resources please contact Denise Courtney at 781-338-6467 or by email at Denise.Courtney@mass.gov . You will receive confirmation of your registration via email and will be prompted to save the events in an electronic calendar for easy access to login. We hope you join us and school nutrition directors, managers, and business managers from across the Commonwealth to communicate and collaborate on how best to serve meals to students next school year.

DESE's Tuesdays at 2

Monthly CadenceProductDescriptionResources
1st Tuesday Making It Count Newsletter Short articles summarizing current events.
  • Links to resources
  • Required due dates
  • Training dates
2nd Tuesday Town Hall for School Meal Programs FNP Leadership presents on current events and answers questions live from attendees. Not available for later viewing.
Slides available in the DRL
3rd Tuesday Nuts and Bolts of School Nutrition Programs, Continuation Series FNP topic experts discuss in detail compliance and best practices in School Meals. Questions from attendees are answered live. Recorded for later viewing.
Slides available in the DRL.
4th Tuesday Supporting Operations Series Directors collaborate to discuss best practices and challenges in school meal service. This is a live peer to peer conversation; no resources are available for later viewing

Summer Virtual Conference: Moving Forward to a New NSLP
Nuts and Bolts of School Nutrition Programs

Monthly CadenceProductDescriptionResources
August 2nd Meal Benefit Access presentations are available on JSI's Website. Bring your questions about these topics to the town hall to get answers from DESE topic experts! Register for Summer Series Town Hall.
August 9th Meal Benefit Access Topic Expert Q&A Town Hall (Next set of presentations will be released)
  • Direct Certification Process
  • Meal Benefit Application Process
  • Verification Process, Direct Verification & Paper Process
August 16th Meal Service & Program Administration Topic Expert Q&A Town Hall (Next set of presentations will be released)
  • Lunch Meal Pattern
  • School Breakfast Program
  • Whole Grains
  • Special Meal Accommodations
  • Maximizing your USDA Foods Entitlement
  • New Directors
  • Returning Directors
  • How is NSLP different than SSO?
  • NSLP District Application Renewal
August 23rd Financial Management, Counting and Claiming Topic Expert Q&A Town Hall
  • Point of Service
  • Meal count consolidation process
  • Claims Processing
  • Meal Charge Policies
  • Procurement
  • Financial Procedures, Reports and Recordkeeping
  • Buy American
August 30th Supporting Operations Series Directors collaborate to discuss best practices and challenges in school meal service.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.





Last Updated: August 3, 2022



 
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