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Community of Practice Call September 3, 2020
Community of Practice Call September 3, 2020
About this Series
The Center for Ecoliteracy and LunchAssist host regular Community of Practice calls where we review the latest policy updates and highlight tools, best practices, and lessons learned from school districts and allied organizations across the state of California. This free series offers an opportunity for districts to connect with one another, share ideas, and build connections with community partners and government agencies around the state.
September 3, 2020 Call
- wide
Chat: Community of Practice Call September 3, 2020
Welcome! Please introduce yourself by typing your name, position and where you work into the chat box. What is one thing you’re grateful for this week?Deirdre Kleske, County of San Diego HHSA - WAIVERS!Good Morning! Abby Halperin, Assessment and Grants Manager from the Center for Ecoliteracy. Grateful for the USDA Waivers!Hello! I am grateful for resourceful colleagues this week.Hello all, from Lakeside California, you have Kristie and Leigh Ann with you today.Hello all. Stephanie Bruce, Palm Springs USD. I am grateful for my Amazing Staff!!!Hi I’m Jim Koulias, with the Center for Ecoliteracy. I’m very grateful for the recent $80M addition to the budget!Morning! Erin Primer here from San Luis Coastal! I'm grateful for FREE meal waivers this week!Hi, Brendan Shields from Magnolia School District in Anaheim, CA. Happy to be feeding kids , no matter where they are from!Amanda Mascia/Hunger Free Kids Manager/SD Hunger Coalition. Grateful for fresh squeezed orange juice and dog snuggles!Cindy Long Head Cook/Food Service Manager at Loleta Elementary SchoolMelinda Nguyen, Nutrition Specialist, Texas. I am grateful for my team.Hi Everyone,HI, Catherine Paredes from Borrego Springs USD, CA here...I'm grateful for air conditioning!!Angelica Castañon, Sr Policy Analyst, NEA, D.C.Kursten Orr, child nutrition lead at Vallecitos School in Rainbow (northern San Diego County). I am grateful for a wonderful support system!Amy Glodde with No Kid HungryHola! Valeria La Rosa, Sr. Program Manager, Life Time Foundation. I'm grateful for collaborationCathy Moen Robla School District Food Service Director. I am grateful for the USDA waiversI am Jennifer Parenteau - I work for the Oregon Dept of Education School Nutrition; I am grateful for creative passionate people serving childrenErica Lee, Robla ESD in Sacramento. Grateful for this community!Cassandra Bahr, Elevate Charter School, Grateful for waivers and my awesome lunch helpers!Amanda Jacobs Harmony USD waivers!Devin Kavanagh-Food Service Director at Target Range School. Grateful to have kids back in school!Hello Suzie Yamanishi from Southside School in Hollister, Waivers!Hi all it’s Liz Crook from Lake Elsinore. I am grateful I have a job ?Laurel Goins, Director Food SErvices Lucia MAr Unified I am gratefull for WAIVERS Feed all the kiddos!!!Miguel from San Ramon Valley USD. Grateful for smart people!!Monica Drazba, CalFresh Healthy Living, UC Yolo County. I am grateful for clear (smoke free) skies this weekGood Morning Everyone. Terry Brown from K12 Food Pros.Laura Burns, Virginia Department of EducationGood morning, everybody. I’m Karen Brown, creative director of the Center for Ecoliteracy. I’m grateful the fires are currently under control.Gail Gousha, San Diego Hunger Coalition. Grateful for friends and familyAlexa Norstad, Director of Programs at the Center for Ecoliteracy, and very grateful for the snatches of clean air we’re getting.Stephanie Urena from LEUSDAngela Adkins, Nutrition Director Trimble County Kentucky. I am grateful that the USDA agreed to free meals for all.Regina Salmon, Fortuna High, CA, Food Service ManagerSally Spero Lakeside Union. Grateful for my great staff!Hello everyone, Nora Stewart from Farm to Institution Center in San Diego County. I am very grateful for this great community and all of you!Hi everyone, Christina Hecht, UC Nutrition Policy Institute. Grateful to all of you for your leadership and teaching!Good morning! Amanda Bast, Nutrition Coordinator for SFE in partnership with the Ferguson Florissant School District.Hi. Patty Gallagher from Roseland School District. Grateful that the waivers passedAnne Marie Norris FS director Windsor UnifiedAlexandra Magallon, DUSD, Dietetic Intern. Grateful for family and DUSD staff.Kristen Tekell, Sonoma Valley, Program ManagerGrateful for the waiver!June Richardson - Ravenswood City School District Child Nutrition Education Department. It's a brand new day!Good Morning My name is Noi Whitener ( Food Service Manager ) for Chawanakee Unified School Dist. I'm grateful for No fires in my mountain Community, and the Seamless Summer Program feeding begining Sept. 8th!Leslie Pring, Twin Rivers USD, Nutrition Services DIrector!Good morning, all! Melissa Ulam, Manager, Clovis Unified. I'm grateful for our amazing team of food service workers who have been sooo flexible.Hi All. Emily Penner, UC Irvine School of Education.Happy Friday Eve everyone! I'm Jacqueline Deadmore, Food Service Director at Oroville Union High School District. Thankful for my staff who want to feed as many children as possible and continue to come to work with a smile and positive attitudeGood morning, Linda Haas, Food Service Coordinator from Petaluma, CaliforniaGood morning, Kari Johnson with the Lunch at the Library Project, CA. Grateful for fresh air and less smoke from fires.Morning, I am Anthony Au Yeung. a dietetic internship from Illinois State UniversityWelcome, welcome!Good Morning Debbie Tamblin Food Service Director WIlliamsburg Independent School District Williamsburg, KYGood morning, Rosa Rubio from Calistoga JUSD.Good morning everyone! welcome!GM! Lily from Downey USD. Grateful we can feed anyone 18 and under now!Lida Gaines, Evergreen SD- San Jose, CA. I am grateful for the staff I work with everyday!!Good morning! Maddy Moritsch, Alliance for a Healthier Generation. Grateful to be able to get outside and move my body!Good morning, my name is Edna Victorio and I am a dietetic intern from Oakwood University.Christina Cazares from Escondido, CAGood Morning everyone!Hi Everyone - we are grateful for all of you. Seriously you amaze us every day!Boy is that true!!!!Good Morning! I am Deborah Kravitz from Del Norte Unified School District, Crescent CityThank you Mickinzie...your sessions are always so helpful and appreciatedRegistration link! [link]Do you have any recommended resources for giving gratitude and mental health for nutrition staff?Can we get what districts are doing when they promote as "Curb Side?" Do parents get out of the car and que up in line in their car? Or, Does Curb Side mean to you - CNS is loading into peoples cars??Emily Cena, Director of Food & Nutrition, Ramona Unified School District. Grateful for free meals!Oh I LOVE THAT Graphic. Great job Twin RiversHow are districts serving multiple times per day under SSO and ensuring no duplicate meals are served since we no longer have POS.?Curbside is to pop up trunk for CNE to drop in or back seat. Contactless and physical distancing.Thank you for sending your questions, if not answered throughout the call there will be some time for discussion at the end :)we use the bus drive thru and people stay in their cars and we hand them meals.Our delivery is we call the family to make sure they are home and then let them know that they are there to drop off the meals in front of their doors.Under seamless summer option can we serve for the holiday or is it like NSLP where meals are not reimbursable if there is not an instructional day?So proud of Trieste. These videos are GREATSSO includes holidays and weekends - to my understanding.Alliance for a Healthier Generation is exploring making a resource for self-care for food service staff. Since food service has been front line heros for the entirety of the pandemic we definitely know that it is time to see some resources specific to them! Please let me know what needs you are seeing with your staff and what would be helpful topics to explore!You all are amazing!SO MUCH GOODNESS!LunchAssist and you all are great resourcesWhat impact do you see with your community now that waivers are extended?Hopefully more student and community participation.This is PA guidance - don't know what your state says: Further guidance has been requested from USDA to verify if SSO and SFSP meal service is dependent or contingent on instructional days. Therefore, at this time, DFN advises only providing meals under SSO or SFSP for instructional days until further guidance is provided by USDA.CA will be providing guidance on their Tuesday at 2 Zoom callThanks, Noi! we hope student participation increases as well.www.lunchassist.org/join → select the FREE community membership to join our listserv!In CA: If we only have approval for 19-20 SSO at some sites, but we now are serving at all sites, how should we claim them? Should we just enter all meal counts in the sites that have 19-20 SSO approval?@Paloma is Lunchassist located in CA?no word on if SFSP and At-Risk can run in tandem, right?If a school district has already started their program under NSLP - can they switch over to SSO or SFSP? Using the new waiver?no weekend or holiday meals allowed in Kentucky just got off the phone with my SFSP repWill be releasing a checklist for this transition, so if you haven’t already - please sign up for our LunchAssist Community membership which is our free membership: www.lunchassist.org/join → select the FREE community membership to join our listserv!What is the parental consent for home delivery?Question for all of you: What strategies are you using to encourage families to return meal applications in light of distance learning and no meal charging?MHUSD is placing over 1200 personalized phone calls.^ amazingwe had the parents sign the form at drive thru registrationSocial MediaPrincipals including the meal application in registration paperwork.Neighborhood group pages and texts to familiesWe are CEP, but before we switched we would market the benefits of completing the form. Flyers, emails with pictures of what classrooms have received as a result of receiving the meal applications.Phone calls for appointments at the meal site pick-up to assist with forms.You have to be careful with incentives. fund 13 can not be used to by prizes ectWould love to hear from the strategies you are using :D thank you for sharing all your ideas!June, here’s the form Palo Alto Unified is using for home delivery, [link]What other outstanding questions do you have regarding the latest waiver flexibilities?Waiting for flexibility update on Parent/Guardian waivers :)Texas' TDA had townhall yesterday and explained that USDA has asked the states to submit questions to help drive their guidance. They showed us some of the 45 questions they are submitting and all these outstanding questions are on the list. they are doubtful about swapping NSLP meals out for SSO meals for reimbursement.CALL TO ACTION!Members and Nonmembers can join the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics by taking action here: [link]That's for the ANDAnd here is the action alert from FoodCorps:Take the Pledge for School Food and stay in the loop with Action Alerts from FoodCorps: [link]Please send the link to the CA Survey once again.Thank you in advance.Survey for CARES act march: [link]GREAT NEWS!Survey report on school food budget deficits: [link]About reopening...Have your schools reopened for in-person learning? If not, has your district provided a projected date?no and no dateOnly small groups (special education) so farvirtual through at least 28 Sept.We’ve reopened only virtuallyVirtual in DCOpened staggered A/B August 10th.thanks for sharing!We don't have a date yet, but we are loosely hearing "maybe within the next 4 weeks"No...and if the Governor stops moving the bar, we might be able to nail down a dateIn Bar Harbor, Maine in person will be Sept 28th- remote will be from Sept 8-25still distance learning. Will open as soon as Fresno County is off the watch listOpened on August 7th and operating 5 days per week on campus.We have reopened, in person, virtual and hybrid9/28 phased reopening through 10/13 at Capistrano USD in South OC CaliforniaEvergreen SD Distance/ DecemberAllow students to choose in-person or virtual. Starting Sept 8th - All students in building on MT and RF. All Virtual on WednesdaysI think the link sent to the CARES survey may be incorrect - please send again.no date yet, re-evaluated every 6 weeks, staying distance for the time beingRavenswood City School District - distance learning until end of October and will reassessMost of our schools in northeastern PA are stating look at COVID-19 rates in late November or at December holiday break and then make a decision.distance with revisit in OctThanks Catherine, let me get the right link and resendfor schools that have switched to SFSP/SSO already, are you serving only your enrolled students or are you able to feed anyone in community already?Thanks Paloma - you're the best!!Not switching until we hear from state on TuesdaySurvey for CARES act: [link]SSO for entire community 18 yrs and under.Everyone! Let the state come talk to me!Michael, I LOVE IT!!Kentucky we are switching from SSO to SFSP and currently we are all virtual.I think Michael and Steph are kindred spiritsSafety Precautions will be sent out in the call notes!Fran I know the mayor of SF was looking at first week of October, but that may have been the city and not the county. I’ll bet you’ll be hearing more about the county soon since about to be on Tier 2.What menu planning strategies are working well for your schools? How about farm to school strategies?Thanks for sharing, Kristin @Capo. Are they bringing back elementary first? (Also, *my alma mater* yay)Worried that the outbreak at SDSU will move us back a tier. No parties kids!Leyla,, I am in South San Francisco unfortunately...^ me too, Sally. eekWhat other menu ideas are working for your schools?Thank you Michael! Great resource@Capo we will be bringing back Special Ed then Elementary then Middle then High schoolIn San Diego county, if you need nutrition education resources please contact meThanks for sharing, Kristin, that makes sense. Wishing you best of luck as thing scale up. That is exciting.Great recipes available at the Lunch Box from Chef Ann Foundation. [link]^^ yes these are wonderfulIf you have any specific fruit/vegetable that you would like to see added to the calculator please let us know!Bulk Produce Calculator - LunchAssist: [link]FFVP is providing us fresh fruit and vegetables. But reaching out to community partners have provided us with Fresh Fruit and Vegetable donations supporting local farms since March.Dominic Machi in Mt. Diablo is vending to his local senior meals on wheels program — the meal pattern isn’t far off from child nutrition meal patterns.That's awesome June, thanks for sharingCivil Rights training: www.lunchassist.org/civilrightsCheck it out! :D^ see Paloma in action on the Spanish lesson!Training is available in Spanish - by yours truly :)Stop Waste has a lot of really neat educational resources: stopwaste.orgHow are people feeding in classrooms and allowing teachers to have their breaks???CSPI Procurement Survey: [link]Link to the recording aboveGREAT question, Stephanie!USDA-FNS will be joining our FRAC webinar next week - just a quick update :)^ that’s great, Clarissa!!All Registration links for each of these will be in the follow-up email.We are currently measuring MPR's and can fit about 45 students at a time in the MPR^ Stephanie, we do not plan to serve in classrooms. Once students return to campus, we will stagger meal times in the cafeteria so kids come pick up meals and take them outside to eat (weather permitting). Will use MPR as our back-up.Don’t miss Tuesday’s at 2 by CDE on Sept 8: [link]Same here Emily. Thank youFight, flight or freeze.All in for the sacred pause! :)*channeling this mood*Boy have I taken a few Pauses!!!I'm so proud of NFSN for stepping up to address Racial Justice. I hope everyone has signed on to their webinar.Collective deep breath guys!Let's stop and breathe...1...2...3Yes deep breathing, and journaling have been very effective through all of this.^ yes, journaling too :) thank you for sharing, Eric. That’s another good strategy to pause & assess.And having a county of amazing Directors like you Eric to talk each other off of our ledgesI'm spending my commute listening to podcasts about the enneagram. :)Is there a little to the number of meals we can serve at one time under SSO-is anyone limiting them?does anyone have a SOP for bus delivery?Journaling sounds fun, thanks Eric. Any other strategies you'd like to share?Do you have any recommended resources for giving gratitude and mental health for nutrition staff?Subscriptions to HeadspaceThe menu planner looks excellent - will the link be available soonIs it mandatory to go to SSO or can we remain with NSLP/SBP?That sounds amazing Maddy!Create a quiet outside, shaded area for nutrition staff to relax and take a breath!@Cynthia - no it is not mandatoryThank you!Not mandatory you always have a choice and doing what is in the best interest of your district and your studentsWe have been using short meditations found on YouTube - they are short and very goodMatt Upton has a morning Facebook Live inspirational post and has about a hundred in his archiveMaddy, This would be amazing. We have the COVID stress and now fires. This would be so helpfulMolly & Melissa — that’s so nice!!SNA has a webinar on Sept 16 called 'taking care of yourself and your students: coping with pandemic crisis & loss' might be helpful?^ Ditto re: Matt Upton - he’s such a great person!"Pop the trunk"Thank you!FYI, partners in child nutrition, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture is adopting (today) a seventh guiding principle embracing equity, diversity and inclusion in their work, and has entered into an agreement with National Society for Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences to welcome more minority students into agricultural policy careers.We serve from drivers side using carts.allows us to check their trunk for other districts food too.Meridian point tapping helps with anxiety [link]That’s really neat, Susan. If you end up having an formal announcement on that, pls share with us :)Are most Grab N Go meals as far as entree's going out in a frozen state and just heating the entree's for the daycare and / or Pod classses that are on site.(Or planning to work around that)Our district has applied for a waiver for duty free lunchIf we started with NSLP for the first 2 weeks of school and then switched to SSO, does it get claimed under NSLP or SSO?I think it will depend on each sites collective bargaining agreement with teachersWhat was the question again.Noon aides and any other staff available will be asked to superviseand is rotating which groups eat in the classroom and cafeteriathis would be great to help folks focus on self care..I know we all say it.. you need to take care of yourself first so you can help others or keep going...also helping us identify and pause to appreciate the blessing in disguiseOther duties as needed will be usedNeed to do two claims one for NSLP and other for SSOThe question was : How are people feeding in classrooms and allowing teachers to have their breaks???nodoes any one have a bus delivery SOP??Thank you JuneIf you are seeing specific Food Service staff needs for self-care/mental health/gratitude, and would like to help inform resource development with what you are seeingThank you so much Maddy!!! much needed!SSFO can get a letter from your county migrant coordinator that states that you have migrant students and they will be using the meal program. This will allow 3 meals, breakfast, lunch and dinnerOur NSLP was from August 26-September 1. And our SSO started yesterday. So will claim separately.Maddy I know that CDC did some coping w/ stress pieces on their website, and KP had some for Thriving Schools. It would be neat to adapt them for nutrition services. Let us know if you ever want to brainstorm :)so we can do Cacfp with enrichment programs onlinewill the attendance for the school distance learning cover as the roster?I think you are correct Jen.I'd urge everyone to get ahead on hybrid or in person learning order of supplies. Avoid national shortages of thermal bags, carts, etc.We begin our SSO on Tuesday 9/8 and no longer with NSLP, as we signed the waiverCACFP yes as long as enrichment program OFFERED on line. Students have OPTION to participate and don't have to participatehow do you get a sign in sheet for CACFP enrichment?Thanks for these clarifications, June.Good point, Michael. Any recommended supplies?Thank youThe students still have to sign in for CACFP if we decided to do it during SFSP/SSO? A roster?for those of you serving only once a week: is your staff working less?No roster for CACFP - just need to prove that enrichment program is offered in curriculumWe have a preorder form for our weekly meal kits - we ask for child name and birthdate to ensure they are under 18 and will give as many meals as you have kids.Document procedure and have it available for audit purposesYes Melissa. Our staff is on call 3 days and working 2 days. They have to log in for training each day though and are Absent with no pay if they do notFor SSO Program we will use the tally sheet, we did use a roster when we are on the NSLPwe ask the family to bring the big family once and show us they have 8 students then moving forward we are okMHUSD Staff works 2 days Student Nutrition, 3 days for the district.Layla - would be happy to work together on this to make a food service specific training, I'll email you and the Lunch Assist teamKoodos to all of you! Love from OHIO for a continued safe and successful start to school! Took away some great ideas from our Cali friends :)preorder form :)Gratitude Resource: [link]Yay Maureen! Thank you for joining from Ohio. Your CN task force has been inspiring us, too.Follow-up email includes the chat-box! thanks for your participation, this is awesome!Remember, you do not have to be under 18 if you are in disability learning. Then, I believe it is 21. Please do not leave out this community that is often in the greatest need.If we are trying to avoid contact, getting signatures goes against thisWe have three color coded checkoff sheets. Breakfast, Lunch, SnackThanks Susan, absolutely.tally sheet is adequate for CACFPSusan thank you your absolute correct!In Pa we don't use a sign in sheet, use a tally (Check off) sheetThank you Stephanie!!!Food Handler has an amazing resource for COVID SOPs including bus deliveryOh great! We’ll link that, too, ValerieSusan and June thank you for sharing that. Yeah I think we need to push back with CDE on this… :)age 21 for the disability, on the SSOFood Handler actually has some amazing SOPs, come to think of it.. let me find the link..As long as a student is enroll in special education we feed 2-22 years old.We are currently operating under NSLP and only serve lunch. If we switch to SSO, do we have to include breakfast as well as lunch?Texas is saying YES claim NSLP under NSLP and if you switch to SSO/SFSP, claim those meals under SSO/SFSPTuesday at 2 we will have more clarity from CDE. Hopefully, they have had two days to pivot quickly, so hopefully by Tuesday afternoon we get more clarity.PA is handling the same as TXHow are districts serving at multiple times and ensuring program integrity of duplicate meals?Thank you Valerie!CA our technical rep from CDE confirmed for us to claim NSLP and separate SSOHere are the Food Handler COVID 19 SOPs: [link]Don’t miss Tuesday’s at 2 by CDE on Sept 8: [link]In PA the tally sheets are by child name.Equivalent of 4 - 10s^ Susan that makes sense - I would call that a rosterStephanie had mentioned about her teamI give them Fridays off - they work their FTE in 3-4 daysOh there she is! :) Thanks Stephanie!Same hours... but only 2 of us... just my aide is only 3 days but same hourssame hours. scratch cooking to help with keeping everyone busy.Ravenswood City School District is doing the same as Stephanie Bruce districtSame hoursVery good, Christina. We’re hearing that folks are using extra staff capacity to cook.Our district is working their full contract hours. We serve 2 days a week and scratch cook so 3 days goes to productionSmart Christina!!!!!I know a lot of folks are seeing big bumps in participation w/ waivers. Have you gotten any feedback from families yet about having access to more meals, and just the overall process being easier?We request a google form survey to order ahead of time and then use that roster... we make a few extras in case someone else shows up....Grateful families who can now feed ALL their kids, not just studentsWhile serving SSO is it okay to run out or must we provide to all our students?Thank you for everything you do, Erin <3Charter school families who can now eat with us are very happy too :)Many families in our district are confused, since we had just explained that they would have to pay. Now we are trying to explain that's not the case.^ that also makes sense, Emily. It’s hard to start one way and then shift.We send people to other sites nearby^yupThanks!Ask for a preorder and then offer an open pick up time for no shows meal to be given out (i.e. 9-1pm for preorders and 1-1:30pm for those without an order)How are some of you getting meal counts in for each day? This is something I think about quite often, especially if the teachers don't have time to send in meal counts from their students who are doing virtual learning.yesWhat time frame is working best for parents? I have heard many shifting meal service times since parents are increasingly going back to workplaces. Would be interested to hear how things are going.I am using the MySchoolBucks "web order" form for pre-ordersthank youno your notAnd if you have any ideas to improve communication with families -> switching from pay to free (again), please share, that seems to be real challenge :/We are not getting any meal counts from teachers at this time, we have to estimate what we need each dayMondays 11:00-12:30 and Thursdays 11:00 to 12:30 and an afternoon 3:30 to 5:00Thnaks Regina that's what were doing now, I was just hoping to see if there's other positve ways other than what were doing now.Another AMAZING call!!!! thank you so much for joining!the chat box was on fire!!!Thank you for another great call!Thank you! Great info shared todaywe do have school bucks thank you I'll check if thats an option for us.Thank you! so appreciate all the wonderful information.thank you!We were 1000-1pm but when school started we have two sites 8am-2:30pm and three sites 8:30am-1:30pm - increased mealsThank you for the infoThank you so much for all the great information!Makes me feel sane!thanks so much!Thank tou so much for all the resources!!I missed part of this meeting but what I was able to hear thank you!Again great info and meeting!Thanks so muchthank you so much!!Thanks everyone!!!this was my first time joining one of these calls, and it was one of the most useful calls I've been on recently, so thank you!I really appreciate all of you feels great to know where all in this together!LunchAssist and Center for Eco ROCK!!thank you ladies!Do you have a clearer list of recommended training courses for staff and directors? I'm looking for a more easily referenced page.Thank you ALL!THANK YOU ALL!! Always great!Any listing of recommended training courses and flow of courses is helpful.Thank you All!McKinzie, Jen, and Leyla Great communication.Will do. Thank you.Your guidance is so much clearer than the CDE webisite pages.I'm so interested in these trainings for my staff, I'll reach out!Link to Civil rights trainingFree Civil Rights Training: [link]Thank you June!!:)Don't forget to breathe :)Here you goThank you everyone for your tips and to CEL and Lunch Assist for organizing such useful information! Best of luck to everyone this fall!Our district just made one up, because we couldn't find one fron the USDA.Thank you Kristin!Your templates are beautiful! Thanks sincerely for all of your hard work.this is awesome, thank you to all of youThank YOU!Have a great day! Take care.Thanks all take care!0
