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Child Nutrition Program Administrative Review

The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act amended by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA), requires School Food Authorities (SFA) participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) to be evaluated through an Administrative Review at least once every three years. Your SFA is scheduled to be reviewed during the 2019-2020 school year. The Child Nutrition Office will be hosting a webinar on October 23, 2019 to discuss the Administrative Review process. Please click the following link for registration information: http://www.cn.nysed.gov/content/administrative-review-webinar-3

The Administrative Review is a comprehensive evaluation of the school meals program. The Administrative Review also includes a procurement review section that focuses on the SFAs compliance with government procurement standards. The objective of the Administrative Review is to determine whether the school meets federal, State and local regulations and requirements. The process also affords the State Agency the opportunity to provide technical assistance; secure any needed corrective action; and assess fiscal action, if applicable. The Administrative Review is a collaborative process between the State Education Department (SED) and your SFA that includes both off-site and on-site assessments. During the off-site portion of the review, SED will collect information to gain a better understanding of SFA operations. During the on-site portion of the review, SED will validate the information collected off-site, observe your Child Nutrition Program operations and provide necessary technical assistance, guidance and corrective action where applicable.

As part of the off-site assessment portion of the Administrative Review, the following documentation must be sent to the Child Nutrition Program Office at CN@nysed.gov by October 31, 2019. *Please include your SFA Name on all documents.

  • Completed “Off-site Assessment Tool” (attached)

The “Off-site Assessment Tool” is a series of questions to gather information on Child Nutrition Program operations prior to on-site review. The tool allows SED to gain a better understanding of SFA operations, indicates areas of risk and allows SED the opportunity to provide technical assistance.  All questions must be thoroughly answered by the SFA.

  • Completed “Procurement Review Worksheet” (attached)

The “Procurement Review Worksheet” is the second tab of the “2019-2020 Procurement Tool” that is attached. The entire “2019-2020 Procurement Tool” is being provided for informational purposes only. Only the second tab of the tool, “Procurement Review Worksheet” should be used by the SFA to detail the procurement information the SFA conducted in the 2018-2019 school year. There are dropdown boxes in each column for SFAs to select answers. SFAs should complete the tab “Procurement Review Worksheet” by entering the 2018-2019 School Year Vendor information and return the completed spreadsheet. *Please do not type over or paste over the drop-down selections, as it will alter the document formulas.

  • 2018-2019 School Year Procurement/Purchasing Policy

The Procurement/Purchasing Policy addresses the SFAs methods in place to properly procure goods and services that comply with the Child Nutrition Program and the government-wide procurement standards (2 CFR Chapter I, Chapter II, Part 200, et. al.)

  • 2018-2019 School Year Purchasing Code of Conduct

A purchasing code of conduct is a policy covering standards of conduct for all employees engaged in purchasing activities. The purchasing code of conduct may be included within the purchasing policy.

  • A paid list/summary of expenses by vendor for 2018-2019 School Year

A paid list/summary of expenses by vendor is a report from the SFA accounting system that identifies all vendors paid from the nonprofit food service account and summarizes the total amount paid to each vendor for the 2018-2019 school year.   

The PLE Tool helps SFAs calculate their paid lunch price increase requirement and/ or non-Federal source contributions to meet the requirement in Section 205 of the HHFKA. This tool is completed each school year. We are requesting the tool that was completed to determine the paid lunch prices charged in School Year 2019-2020 or documentation to support a 2019-2020 PLE exemption approval.

The Non-Program Foods Tool helps SFAs calculate the minimum amount of revenue from non-program foods that is required, and any additional revenue needed to comply with the new requirements in Section 206 of the HHFKA.  This tool is completed each school year. We are requesting the tool that was completed for the 2018-2019 School Year.

The Local Wellness Policy is a written document of official policies that guide SFAs efforts to establish a school environment that promotes students’ health, well-being, and ability to learn by supporting healthy eating and physical activity as required by Section 204 of the HHFKA.

A meal charge policy is a policy that is in place for children who are participating in the Child Nutrition Programs at the reduced or paid rate, but either do not have money in their account or in hand to cover the cost of the meal at the time of service. All SFAs operating the NSLP and/or SBP were required to have a written and clearly communicated charge policy no later than July 1, 2017.

The 2018-2019 Executive Budget amended New York State Education Law 908 as added by Section 2 of Part B of Chapter 56 of the laws of 2018 Prohibition Against Meal Shaming.  Beginning with school year 2018-2019, all public, non-public and charter school food authorities (SFAs) that require students to pay for a school breakfast and/or lunch meal must have developed a written plan to ensure that a student whose parent or guardian has unpaid meal charges is not shamed or treated differently than a pupil whose parent or guardian does not have unpaid school meal charges.

The Prohibition Against Meal Shaming Policy has several of the same or similar requirements as the federal National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Unpaid Meal Charge policy that took effect July 1, 2017. SFAs may opt to amend this policy to include the new State criteria or can develop a separate State specific plan. Please submit the SFAs Meal Charge Policy.

A Child Nutrition Program representative will contact you or a designee in the following weeks to review your answers and complete additional off-site assessments. Failure to submit the completed “Off-site Assessment Tool” and the “Procurement Review Worksheet" and the other documents requested may jeopardize your participation in Child Nutrition Programs.

A Child Nutrition Program representative will also contact you to schedule the on-site portion of the Administrative Review. To facilitate the on-site process, we will collect more information pertinent to the review at the time of scheduling.

School Food Authority records shall be retained for a period of 3 years after submission of the final Claim for Reimbursement for the fiscal year to which they pertain, except that if audit findings have not been resolved, the records shall be retained beyond the 3 year period as long as required for resolution of the issues raised by the audit. Please be advised that these records must be readily retrievable or immediately available upon request.

The National School Lunch and the School Breakfast Program focus on improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children. Our goal for all Child Nutrition Programs is to increase awareness of and participation in these programs while promoting program integrity. Our intent is to provide you with any assistance that will enable you to continue to offer program benefits to the community. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your Child Nutrition Program Representative at (518) 473-8781.

USDA Nondiscrimination Statement

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

  1. mail:
    U.S. Department of Agriculture
    Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
    1400 Independence Avenue, SW
    Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
  2. fax:
    (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
  3. email:
    Program.Intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Click here for Nondiscrimination Statement translations.

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