National School Lunch Program

FNS is pleased to release TA 01-2024: Crediting Traditional Indigenous Foods in Child Nutrition Programs. This memorandum is now available at https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/crediting-traditional-indigenous-foods and supersedes TA 01-2015: Child Nutrition Programs and Traditional Foods.

Due to the unexpected nationwide shortage of paper milk cartons, many School Food Authorities (SFAs) are not able to obtain milk in half pints for their school meals programs. Although SFAs are expected to meet the fluid milk requirements to the greatest extent possible, supply chain disruptions, including disruptions that limit milk variety or affect serving size, are considered a temporary emergency condition. In these instances, SFAs are allowed to serve and claim meals during the emergency period by:

Printer-friendly version of the full USDA memo can be found here.

On August 23, 2023, The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published the Child Nutrition Program Integrity final rule. This final rule aims to help USDA and state administering agencies reduce program errors of all types, resulting in more efficient operations and improved compliance with program requirements.

USDA has released the Final Rule: Child Nutrition Programs - CEP Increasing Options for Schools. This final rule amends the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) regulations by lowering the minimum identified student percentage (ISP) from 40 percent to 25 percent.

The New York State Education Department has requested the following waivers from annual Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) deadlines from the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Services (FNS):

In partnership with the FarmOn! Foundation, the New York State Education Department (SED) Child Nutrition Program Office invites schools to take part in the Big Apple Crunch on October 26, 2023. 

The Big Apple Crunch takes place in October of each year, inviting New Yorkers to take a bite out of an apple grown in New York to celebrate the apple harvest and to inspire us all to Eat Local.  

Join SED in fostering farm-to-school connections by participating in your own Big Apple Crunch!

The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance asks schools to share information (PDF / Word) with families on how to apply for additional P-EBT benefits they may be eligible for.  The deadline for families to apply is September 30, 2023.

*Update: These waiver requests have been approved.*

All non-public School Food Authorities (SFAs) are required to submit their established school year calendar by Recipient Agency (RA) to the Child Nutrition Program Administration office (CN) each school year. Residential Childcare Institutions (RCCI) and Jails are exempt from this process.

The 2023-2024 school year runs from July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024. Calendars for the 2023-2024 school year must be submitted via email to cn@nysed.gov by September 30, 2023.