Child Nutrition School Year Lockdown
The NYS Education Department (SED) implements a School Year Lockdown for the Child Nutrition (CN) Program, including the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). This lockdown is designed to ensure that claims are submitted by a School Food Authority (SFA) and processed by SED in a timely manner consistent with Federal and State regulations.
Please note that these procedures are not designed to reduce the amount of funds paid to any SFA. These procedures are designed to help the SFA and SED complete claims processing, in as an efficient manner as possible.
Listed below is a description of the process, the actions that SED will be taking and their effect on the SFA or other participating agency.
There are two phases to the School Year Lockdown. Phase I occurs in mid-February, Phase II in mid-September of each year.
Phase I Lockdown (Preliminary Lockdown)
- Begins in mid-February
- The previous September claim month will be closed
- Claim months prior to that September will also be closed
(e.g. In February 2022, the claim for September 2021 and all months prior will be closed.)
The SFA will no longer be able to file a new claim on-line or make an adjustment to an existing claim on-line for the months corresponding to the lockdown period. Therefore, rather than submitting the claim/adjustment electronically through the Child Nutrition Management System (CNMS) a paper claim will need to be submitted to the Child Nutrition Reimbursement (CNR) Unit for processing. To request a paper claim form, email cnr@nysed.gov. A claim in 'Working' Status, one that has not yet been ‘Submitted’, will also require the submission of a paper claim. Once a paper claim is received, CNR will consult with the Child Nutrition (CN) Program Office to determine if the claim should be approved. The claim is still subject to all edit checks and claim rules within CNMS before it can be paid. If the claim is approved, the payment will not be released on CNMS until the September coinciding with the closeout of the funding year for that claim. If the claim is not approved, the SFA will be notified.
No other claim related functions used by the SFA or the CN Program Office will be affected during Phase I Lockdown.
After the Preliminary Lockdown goes into effect, CN staff will continue to work with the SFA to resolve all outstanding issues and claims.
Phase II Lockdown (Final Lockdown)
- Begins mid-September
- SFA will not be able to modify any system claim data related to the lockdown period
- New claims or adjustments to claims affected by lockdown will not be allowed
- Claims in ‘Working’ or ‘Interface Error’ status will be automatically deleted by CNMS
- Claims on ‘Hold’ for ANY reason will be automatically ‘Denied’ by CNMS
- Claims on ‘Appeal’ will be automatically ‘Denied’ by CNMS
- There will be no on-line ability to ‘Appeal’ a denied claim
Under School Year Lockdown procedures, the SFA has between eleven and twenty-two months to complete an approvable claim for any particular month. Please note that each claim must still be submitted in accordance with the 60-day submission requirement. (See table below.)
| Month | Original or Adjusted Claim Due | Phase I Lockdown Date | Phase II Lockdown Date | Total Number of Months to Complete Claim |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2021 | Within 60 days (No change) | February 2022 | September 2022 | 11 |
| October 2021 | " | February 2023 | September 2023 | 22 |
| November 2021 | " | " | " | 21 |
| December 2021 | " | " | " | 20 |
| January 2022 | " | " | " | 19 |
| February 2022 | " | " | " | 18 |
| March 2022 | " | " | " | 17 |
| April 2022 | " | " | " | 16 |
| May 2022 | " | " | " | 15 |
| June 2022 | " | " | " | 14 |
| July 2022 | " | " | " | 13 |
| August 2022 | " | " | " | 12 |
When a claim is submitted but does not pass CNMS edit checks it is the responsibility of the SFA to take the appropriate actions to resolve the claim. The SFA should resolve the problem as soon as possible to ensure that an approvable claim is submitted to SED prior to Final Lockdown. These procedures require that an unapproved claim be resolved prior to Final Lockdown in order for the SFA to receive reimbursement for that claim.
Questions regarding these procedures can be sent to cnr@nysed.gov.
