Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the state’s mission/vision
in relation to providing quality child nutrition programs?
To provide a framework for state assistance in the thorough integration of
nutrition education, maximizing resources, and delivering accurate, positive,
and consistent nutrition information.
To provide an integrated nutrition education program contributing to a
nutritionally knowledgeable public, motivated to
making behavioral changes to promote optimal health and nutritional status.
2. What is the National School Lunch
Program?
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program
operating in more than 98,000 public and nonprofit private schools and
residential childcare institutions in the
3. How are
school lunch menus planned?
Each school system utilizes a different procedure/method of menu planning.
4. What is the School Breakfast
Program?
The School Breakfast Program is a federal entitlement program providing states
with cash assistance for nonprofit breakfast. It was started in 1966 as a pilot
project and made permanent in 1975. The meal pattern provides students
one-fourth of their recommended daily allowance. Children from families at or
below 130 percent of the Federal poverty level are eligible for free meals.
Schools may not charge more than 30 cents for a reduced price breakfast.
Schools set the rate for the paid students who pay full meal price. Any child
at a participating school may purchase a meal through the School Breakfast
Program. In 2001, over 150,627 breakfasts were served in
5. Are public schools required to
provide breakfast?
No.
6. How do children qualify for free
and reduced-price meals?
Each school system participating in the National School Lunch and Breakfast
Program is required to provide an application to each student in the school
district.
Eligibility is determined based on family income. Families with incomes at or
below 130 percent of the poverty level are eligible for free meals; families
with income between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level are
eligible for reduced price meals; and families with income over 185 percent of
the poverty level pay full student price for meals.
7. What is
the Child and Adult Care Food Program?
The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), which operates under the
direction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), plays a vital role in
improving the quality of day care programs across Alabama. The funding provided
to the day programs make opportunities affordable for many low-income families.
Each day, 2.6 million children and 74,000 adults receive nutritious meals and
snacks in nonresidential child and adult day care centers. CACFP also provides
meals to children residing in homeless shelters and snacks to youth
participating in eligible after school care programs.
Eligible public or private nonprofit child care centers, outside school hours
care centers, Head Start and Even Start programs, and other institutions that
are licensed or approved to provide day care services may participate in CACFP.
For profit centers must receive Title XX funds for at least 25 percent of their
participants to be eligible to participate in CACFP. The funds are distributed
in
8. How can the Child Nutrition Funds
be used?
The USDA School Breakfast and Lunch Programs earn federal revenue based on the
number of free, reduced-price, and paid meals served and claimed by the
organization that has an approved application and agreement on file with the
State Department of Education, Child Nutrition Programs. In addition to the
federal reimbursement, other sources of funds are earned through daily cash
sales to students, ala carte sales to students and teachers, catering, and
other special functions. There is a State of Alabama mandated transfer of funds
from the school system’s general fund to the child nutrition fund to cover the
state mandated raises and fringe benefits for child nutrition employees. USDA
regulation 7CFR 210.14(a) states “Revenues received by the nonprofit school
food service are to be used only for the operation or improvement of such food
service, except that, such revenues shall not be used to purchase land or
buildings, or to construct buildings…” The primary allowable costs include
salaries and fringe benefits, food, supplies, purchased services, equipment,
and indirect costs. Child Nutrition funds MAY NOT be used to pay for
items such as bad debts (bad checks, uncollected charged meals, uncollected
catering functions, etc.), fines, penalties, interest, unapproved capital
projects, passenger vehicles, costs associated with providing adult meals,
alcoholic beverages, entertainment, or costs of personal memberships. Child
Nutrition Funds may also not be used to purchase foods of minimum nutritional
value.
9. What is the purpose of the Summer
Food Service Program (SFSP)?
The Summer Food Service Program was created to ensure children in low-income
areas could continue to receive nutritious meals during long school vacations,
when they do not have access to school lunch or breakfast. Children in
low-income communities are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals
during the school year through the National School Lunch (NSLP) and School
Breakfast Programs (SBP) but those programs end when school ends for the
summer.
Although nearly 14 million children depend on nutritious free and reduced-price
meals and snacks at school for 9 months out of the year, only about 2 million
receive free meals provided by the SFSP during the summer months.
10. How can I locate a Summer Food Service Program
near me?
Contact the Alabama Department of Education, Child Nutrition Office in
11. What is the Seamless Summer Feeding
Wavier (SSFW)?
The SSFW was initially piloted in several school districts in
The purpose of the pilot is to reach more hungry children in low-income areas
in the summer and to help schools provide more efficient meal service to those
children. For school districts that have been operating both the NSLP and the
SFSP, the pilot offered a reduction in the paperwork and administrative
burdens. With streamlined administrative procedures, more school districts have
chosen to provide summer meals to children. Under the SFSP, most of the summer feeding service program regulations are waived. The
waiver participants operate primarily under the NSLP regulations. The school
systems receive the same rates for the National School Lunch, School Breakfast,
and School Snack programs.
12. Why does the federal government give
commodities to participants in the National School Lunch Program?
The USDA decided to assist the National School Lunch Program because American
agriculture was in need of a major outlet for many of the domestically produced
crops other than the traditional commercial market. The decision to purchase products
produced in
13. What determines how much federal
assistance a recipient agency receives in commodities each year?
Each recipient agency receives commodities based on the number of reimbursable
lunches that that agency served the previous year, multiplied times the per
meal assistance level for the current year. The per meal assistance level (PAL)
for the 2002-03 school year is 15.25 cents per reimbursable lunch. If a
recipient agency served 100,000 lunches the previous year, the agency would be
entitled to $15,250.00 worth of entitlement commodities during the current
year.
The USDA also makes some additional commodities available to recipient agencies
that are called bonus commodities. Bonus items are provided due to an over
supply of a particular item. This effort assists the agricultural community by
pulling some of the excess off the commercial market and helps to stabilize the
price of that item. These bonus items are extra and do not
count toward meeting the recipient agency’s total entitlement figure
discussed in the paragraph above.
14. How are commodities allocated to each
school district?
Each school district is allocated their fair share of each commodity that is
allocated to a state based on the number of reimbursable lunches served the
previous school year divided by the total number of reimbursable lunches
served. This number is then divided by the total number of reimbursable lunches
served in the state of
15. Are Child Nutrition Programs audited
each year?
Yes, the State Examiners of Public Accounts audit local county school systems.
Local city school systems are audited by a private certified public accountant.
16. Can I fax a Child Nutrition Programs
(CNP) Claim for Reimbursement?
Yes, the fax number is listed on the claim. Readable faxed copies will be accepted
and faxed signatures will be considered as original signatures.
17. When is the CNP Claim for Reimbursement due?
The initial claim is due 30 days after the end of the
claim month. Please refer to the deadline insert provided with each
reimbursement check.
18. What if my approved CNP programs are not the same as
the CNP claim form I received?
Do not make alterations to the claim form in order to
submit the claim. The claim form is generated based on the approved programs
entered into the Child Nutrition System. Differences need to be resolved by
speaking with the CNP section. After correcting any erroneous entries, they
will provide you with a new claim form.
19. What dates should be entered in “From” and “To” of
“Period Covered by This Claim” on the CNP claim for Reimbursement?
Enter the first day of the month for which meals are
reported/served in the “From” field and enter the last day of the month for
which meals are reported/served in the “To” field. The first and last days of
the calendar month should only be entered if meals are served and reported for
those days.
20. If I only have a few days in a month, can I add the
meals and other data to a previous or a subsequent month’s CNP claim?
Meals for a particular calendar month must be reported on
that month’s claim. In no case can a claim contain meals or data for other than
a single month.
21. Who may sign the CNP claim for Reimbursement?
For city and county school systems, except in
circumstances where an alternate has been bonded, approved and is on file with
the Department, it should be the local Superintendent. When Superintendents
change, bonds must be approved and submitted to the Department and recorded.
For other organizations and institutions, the person signing the claim must be
a person listed on the Application/Agreement approved by CNP staff.
22. What is my CNP Agreement Number?
It is the three-character identifier (numbers and/or
numbers) that was provided to you when your CNP Application/Agreement was
approved. For city and county school systems, it is the three-digit number
after the “CLB.”
23. Why can’t we serve carbonated beverages in the
National School Lunch Program?
Carbonated beverages are considered in the category of
foods of minimal nutritional value by the USDA and are not allowed as part of
the National School Lunch Program as per the NSLP Federal Regulation 7 CFR 210.
24. I want to bring a birthday cake and refreshments to my
child’s room for his birthday. What are the restrictions?
The policy prohibits “any food or beverage that has sugar
or high fructose corn syrup listed as the first ingredient on the school
premises until after the end of the last scheduled class”. This would not
preclude a parent from bringing a birthday cake, cupcakes, or other baked items
for a birthday party. It does preclude any use of soft drinks or sweetened
beverages to such a celebration during the school day. It would be very
important to read the label and make the determination if an item has the first
ingredient listed as sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
25. Who is responsible for monitoring this policy on
parties?
The policy specifically notes that the school
administrator or staff, student or student group, parent or parent group or any
other interested party is responsible for compliance to this policy.
26. What about foods used as part
of an instructional curriculum?
Teachers may use foods for instructional purposes as long
as the items are not considered FMNV, as defined by USDA, or candy. Students in
those classes that used foods as part of the instructional curriculum may
consume those foods prepared as part of the class as long as they do not
provide them to other students and/or classes. Foods provided as part of the
class or school cultural heritage event are exempt from the policy, as long as
the foods served are not served in competition to the school meal, during lunch
or breakfast and regular meal service must continue to be available to all
students.
27. What about food served or available for field trips?
School approved field trips are exempt from the nutrition
policy. A school official must approve the date and purpose of the field trip.
28. If I pack my child’s lunch how does this apply?
This policy does not restrict what parents may provide for
their own child’s breakfast, lunch, or snack. Parents may provide any item,
including foods of minimum nutritional value for their own child’s consumption,
but may not provide the restricted items to other children at school during the
school day. However, a local school board or even an individual school may
adopt a more restrictive policy and limit the items that a child may bring. It
is best to check with your school for individual policies.
29. The PTA wants to sell food items at breakfast as part
of a fund raiser for the school. How will this affect fund raisers?
No foods of any type may be sold at any place on the
school campus during meal service times, to include breakfast and lunch times.
Neither may fundraisers be planned to occur just before the meal service in an
effort to sell food items that would decrease participation in the school
breakfast or school lunch program. All fund raisers should examine the items
being sold and choices must promote good health. This includes the selling of
food as students gather on the school campus before school begins or as
students wait on transportation or otherwise exit the school campus following
school dismissal. No fundraisers may sell foods of minimal nutritional value
during the school day or as described above. All events outside the school day
are exempt from this policy.
30. When is the fundraiser policy to be implemented?
This policy is to be implemented fully by the completion
of the 2005-06 school year.
31. We utilize catalog sales for fundraisers. The catalog
has chocolate as one of the items that can be sold. The sales are all conducted
after school hours. Can we sell the chocolate?
No fundraisers may sell foods of minimal nutritional value
during the school day. All sales conducted after school hours are exempt from
this policy. In any event, the label of the food item must be reviewed. The
restrictions are that no food item with sugar or high fructose corn syrup may
be available to children during school hours. Some chocolate does not have
sugar listed as the first ingredient.
32. We have a contract for the purchase of bottled tea,
juice mix, and snow cones. When do we have to change?
Any existing contract may be honored through the 2005-06
school year. All contracts beginning with the 2006-07 school year must
incorporate the requirements on portion sizes, ingredients, and nutritional
content for snacks and beverages sold in school cafeterias, vending machines,
and school stores. If you can come to an agreement on changing items to meet
the new policy requirements, that would be acceptable.
33. Our school system has a blanket contract for all
schools to furnish drinks. Does this exempt the CNP?
No contract may include CNP as part of the vending. These
funds are considered federal funds and must follow any legal requirements regarding
purchasing. CNP is not a revenue sharing venue with general fund and must have
a separate contract.