Community of Practice Call November 5, 2020

Good morning

Good morning

Good Morning!

Good Morning

Good afternoon!!

Welcome! Please introduce yourself by typing your name, position and where you work into the chat box. What is one thing that has brought you JOY in the last month? (since our past meeting)

Susie

Polly Houston, Lennox School District

Good Morning - From Palm Springs USD - My amazing staff!  8 months in and still going strong!!!

Cindy Long, Head Cook/Food Manager

Hi!

Good Morning! Banta Elementary School District, I am closing on my 1st home this week! 

Good morning all! My joy was the grandson's first birthday...

Good morning from Hank Stelzl. Love the chilly early mornings.

Good Morning :)

Maureen - I enjoy virtual hangouts and collabs with YOU!

Hi  I am Marianne the Office Manager for Chef B. My grandson who is 5 brings JOY!!

jill from La Mesa-Spring Valley; my son enjoying a few days back to 9th grade is joy :)

Good morning! Mickinzie from LunchAssist. :) The fall leaves have brought me joy - so many pretty colors

Hi, everyone. My name is Jordan Johnson. I work with Cultivate Charlottesville in Charlottesville, VA.

Good Morning All! This is Terry from K12 Food Pros. Riding my bike at Lake Murray has been bringing me joy

Alexa Norstad, Director of Programs at the Center for Ecoliteracy. Fall light and shadows are bringing me a lot of joy and CALM this month.

Hi. I have had joy seeing some of our students returning to campus in our distance learning pods

Good Morning, The JOY is HAVING SOME STUDENTS BACK IN OUR CAFETERIA YIPPIE!!!!

Good morning from Debbi Dodson of the Carton Council.  Super joyful that the chilly weather has finally arrived in San Diego.

Gail Gousha, Hunger Free Kids, Consultant.  Farmers to Families Food Boxes

Good Morning!  Brendan Shields, Director of Food Services from Magnolia School District in Anaheim, CA  Cooking with my family at home almost every night brings me joy!

Celia Cisneros, Le Grand Elementary. My joy is we have students on campus!

Sally Nicholson - from Lexington, SC - Food Service Director

Hollie Hillard, Sand Creek Elementary, Kitchen Manager, Sand Creek Michigan. I have enjoyed having Bonfires!

Hi folks, Rachel Waugh, Programs Coordinator at the Chef ANN Foundation. I have recently chatted with a bunch of food service directors and am inspired and amazed by the work they are doing to ALWAYS improve the food they serve their communities.

Suzie, Food Service Manager, Southside School in Hollister, CA... Joy is having low Covid numbers in our community as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Good morning everyone, Rosa Rubio from Calistoga JUSD, re opening schools soon brings me JOY!

Nancy Whalen - Clovis USD 

Good morning everyone. Deborah Kravitz from Del Norte USD, Crescent City, CA  Am loving the fall weather  here and excited about retiring in 22 more working days!

Good Morning, Regina Salmon, Fortuna High School District, CA. Participation is increasing as students start to come back.

Hello from the East Coast! Morgan McGhee, FoodCorps!

Susie Cooper here-I am loving the sunsets this week!

Hi All! Kristin Zellhart with Eat REAL! The cooler weather has brought me joy! And of course seeing all of you today!

Antoinette Pearce, Assistant Director at Compton Unified school District 

Good morning Everyone.  Miguel from San Ramon Valley USD.  I'm glad our student meal counts continue to increase with each passing week.  

Gelene Coelho, San Miguel School District, CA. Food Service Manager. 

Morning, dog walks

Good Morning from Rialto Child Nutrition. This is Kristina (Program Innovator). Serving our families has brought me joy. 

Hello, Heather Reed, Dairy Council of California, retired annuitant, joy from painting and swimming

Becky O'Connor, F2Institituion Coordinator in Western NY

Mechelle Finney FSD Lakeport ca.

Good Morning my name is Noi Whitener

Good Morning, I'm Rajwinder (Raj) Kaur with  Dairy Council of CA.  Joy is the cooler weather

Barbara Hughes, County of SD HHSA. Family time upon us!

Good Morning! Suzie King Food Service Coordinator. I love seeing the families that come through our drive thru meal service. I appreciate that they come.

Amy Garfinkel, Farm to School Network Lead, CA Dept. of Food & Ag. Cooking squashes!

Love reading all the moments of joy!!! <3

Jessica Shelly, Student Dining Services Director, Cincinnati Public Schools

Buenas Dias! Lynley Connor, COO, TopNCatering, Thanksgiving being around the corner!:)

Carol Ann Grodski 

Georgia McCoy Director Russell County Schools in VA

Good morning, Marisol Cortez, Food Service Director, Temple City USD

Christina Cazares, Escondido High School District Supervisor of nutrition services. 

Hi, Good afternoon in PA! Joyful that even with a resurgence of COVID in our area, the urgency of response is not so heightened and "we've got this!"

Robert Schram Food Service Director, Clovis California  My wife and daughter 

Vince C from Natomas brings me joy....

Rebecca Ward FS & Safety Coordinator from Acalanes SD. Walking my dog I the hills around Oakland, CA.

Brentwood NY FSD YOGA

Emma Finn here with Friends of the Earth's Climate-Friendly School Food Program. Cooking nourishing food and sharing it with loved ones has brought me joy :)

My Joy is having students back in the classroom and of course our Cafeteria. I'm from Chawanakee Unified School Dist.

Suzy Sayre El Monte Union HS District 

Good morning my name is Maria Garcia-Avila at the Gadsden Elementary School District in San Luis, Arizona.  I am the Food Service Assistant Director

Good Morning! Frances Montoya Food Service Director at Vaughn Next Century Learning Center. My Joy is doing some self care.

Good morning! Naomi Shadwell, Executive Director of Child Nutrition Services, San Marcos USD. I'm enjoying seeing students back in-person!  

Good morning, Susan Delgado from Mountain View School District in El Monte, CA.  Appreciating our terrific staff and their positive attitude - continuing since March 2020!

Deirdre Kleske, County of San Diego HHSA, joyful that we may get some rain this weekend!

Good Morning! Erin Primer from San Luis Coastal in CA. My joy comes from sourcing local foods like squash from local farms and having dietetic interns working with us!

Welcome, welcome!

Brenda Ruiz, Sacramento Food Policy Council, first quarter of distance learning completed!

Hi Deirdre

Lisa White, CN Area Supervisor SRVUSD.  My joy has been the clearer skies without smoke!  

[link]

Morning! Abby Halperin, Assessment and Grants Manager at the Center for Ecoliteracy. Being in nature and gardening is bringing me joy.

Good Morning Amy Hedrick-Farr, Santa Cruz City Schools. My joy comes from welcoming our students back!

Good Morning!!! Christy Wineman here, Supervisor from Lucia Mar Unified School District - I have cows so my favorite time of the year is now - CALVING SEASON!!!

Good Morning from Borrego Springs, Cathy Paredes - my joy is temps under 100 ;-)

Good morning! Jen from LunchAssist! My amazing team and this community bring me so much joy every day. Thank you all for making my job so enjoyable :)

Register Link: [link]

Hello! Ben from the Farm to Market program at the Community Alliance with Family Farmers

Good Morning everyone—Krysta Williams from Center for Ecoliteracy.  Walks in the cool, crisp mornings with my kiddo have been bringing me lots of joy

Yay MDUSD!! So proud of Dominic and his team! They were also just Eat REAL certified [link] :)

Hi Everyone...Paloma with LunchAssist. My joy around this time: sweater weather! :) 

Great Work Mt. Diablo!!

Nice job Mt. Diablo

Love the t-shirts!!!!

What creative ways have you been able to innovate during the pandemic?

Great idea OUSD!!

Great job Irene Reynold

Beautiful branding!

love those ousd distance learning boxes

I have fresh pasta dough resting :-D

Great Job Irene Reynolds and CN Team! 

Good morning, all.

Would love some of these amazing recepes

I appreciate having Ilana Glazer grace my morning call

^ perfect

Agreed Jessica!

If we applied for the Eligibility waiver @ the beginning of the pandemic, do we need to reapply?

What are folks doing with applications this year in light of SSO/SFSP operations?

Rebecca - No need to reapply, unless you need to add/change sites

Thanks you/1

When indicating applications are you talking about meal applications or household income applications or both?

Zoom family cooking classes, Grab-n-Grow Kits for take home gardens for families, gave away over 200 tomato plants and basil plants, CSA bags with recipes in both Spanish and English from March through August 100 plus a week.

If your district operates under CEP we don't collect any applications right? 

That's so cool, Hank! thanks for sharing 

Wow, Hank! Amazing work. Feel free to email us videos and favorite activities to share with others :)

California has provided an alternative LCFF form for SSO/SFSP school districts, right?

That's way cool, yes thanks for sharing!

CEP we collect household income applications only for LCFF

For CA, districts need the f/r information by the 3rd week of November for 1st Interim...so LCFF information will be asked for prior to the 12/31/20 deadline.  FYI

How can I check if we are up to date with our waivers?

Brenda, yes there is an alternative income form

CEP we do not collect meal applications

Any news on Verification process? I apologize if this was asked already and I missed it. :-) 

Jorge - you should have received a confirmation for every waiver you applied for. Be sure to keep these confirmations on file

Stacie verification update is next

Thank you for covering this FRPM issue!

Thank you :-) 

Correct, June, CEP = no meal applications

What about if I forgot to print them, is there a website I can go to so that I can print them out or save them?

Ohio is requesting a waiver for verification this year

Is that only if you claimed meals under NSLP in CA?

Jorge - Check your email to see if it was archived. Otherwise, you may need to reapply to get those confirmation emails.

Sorry I was late.  Did you talk about CEP?  I am told that districts are worried about maintaining CEP because they are not collecting applications.

Thank you.

Margie, schools on CEP don't need to collect applications 

CEP is based on direct Certification (student matching) 

how much is lunchassit pro?

Thank you so much.

In San Diego, we're also running Zoom family/teens cooking and nutrition classes in partnership with County Parks and Rec. Have also partnered with school districts with Farmers to Families box distributions as well as providing funding for gardening grow kits for families. We're HHSA so it's been great to be able to support - through programming, volunteers, and funding -  all of the current hunger relief and efforts during the pandemic. 

First I would like to apoloise if I misunderstood you, so we are on the SFSP did Jen mention that we can't accept F/R apps?

Jill - $250 for the year! Lots of resources, templates, tools, etc.

Here is the link with more info on the membership: [link]

Thank you for sharing such wonderful resources, Barbara! 

what kind of documentation do you need to collect for claims?  I was told attendance sheets.

This week’s USDA Q&A Memo up above!

YES! Great workaround!

what if you already started verification, Oct 1, and had an end date for Nov to parents? parents are not turning in paystubs because they're free under sso 

Any idea if a ROSTER is required for multi meal distribution for CACFP?  At risk site.

We used a google form to enroll our after school students.

Suzanne, a roster specifically shouldn't be required, but you need something to count as attendance.

with the SNP Snacks we have to still do a Site Monitoring Review correct?

sorry after school snack program.

CA - I was told I need to print out a site's attendance.  And to use that serve only the kids that attend a grab and go sites.  True?  So I can't serve supper to a student's siblings if they attend another school?

Up for a review? Learn more about our AR Boot Camp at www.lunchassist.org/ARBootCamp

The State called me yesterday to say our school would not have a review this year they are moving to a extended year audit..

Just for clarification: We still need to do Verification after all? We were told we did not have to since we are on SSO all year long. Please clarify this again.

[link]  

CA is already set to distrubte

That is much nicer than the first round flyer.  Very Nice.  Thank you

sorry but your pictures are not clear to read, thank you.

Jennifer re printing attendance -- could you write in additional names for siblings at the bottom? That's usually OK in other states as long as attendance is comprehensive and accurate. It doesn't have to be pre-printed because sites don't have to be enrolled (unless it's delivery).

Cristina - YES, per the USDA Q&A Memo released this week, verification is required. Such a headache!!

Is this being recorded? so we can share with co-workers

Hi Cristina - yes this is part of the flip flop in guidance. CDE said do verification. Then do not do it if you are on SSO/SFSP all year. Now the Nov 2 USDA says all schools must DO verification if you collected any meal applications during SY 20-21…. Brain. Exploding. :(

Yes, Alice, the recording will be sent out asap

Carolyn - yes names can be written in on the bottom for rosters!

Any word on who is having a Procurement Review and/or when that list of districts will be released?  Nothing on CDE yet.  

Debra - that is great information! Did anyone else get similar information for their AR being postponed in California?

Noi - we will be sending all of the resources out in the f/u email!

Hi Jen, if we serve NSLP snack to students on-site, do those snacks have to be served after the completion of the school day?

I love how @Vince explained the intersection of  P-EBT and school meals to us: The extension of the P-EBT program provides a needed short term boost for families AND provides an additional incentive to fill out meal application forms. When more students in a district are qualified for free and reduced priced meals, the participation in the meal program and the reimbursements that the school district receives from the state and federal government increases. These are complementary programs that ensure that students get the support they need in both the short-term and long-term.

Can you share the slides on the PEBT Presentation and information please?

Is there any information out there for the redemption rate of the original PEBT programs?  Ours in PA are good for six months, so most  families will have until November or December 30 to use.

Deborah - Yes, we will be sending out a copy of these slides and the recording within the next few days!

Deborah, we’ll share the slides in the follow up email, plus any new info and updates Brenda has in between. We’re so grateful for her keeping us connected to this info at the state level! <3

So confusing. 

Brenda you deserve a medal for being able to explain all this.

Thank you Mickinzie

So, am  I right that PEBT extension will not be given to the student if school was open in August/September?

Thank you Brenda.   We need a few simple tips to inform our parents.  

Yes, very grateful. Thank you!

Regina and Susan - We will flag your questions for the discussion at the end :)

Thank you!

THANK YOU Brenda!!!

you’re welcome! I will look at Q’s now

If we missed your question, we will circle back during the discussion at the end, when our speakers can answer your questions directly! :)

I am so excited.  We are handing out Turkeys as part of the lunch and supper program for Thanksgiving.

For those offering holiday meals, what are some ways you’re streamlining the process for your team? How are you marketing it to families?

USDA has confirmed in writing to our state agency that you can offer more than 7 days of meals in unique situations.

Can we claim meals served during the holidays

Thanksgiving Meal Kit = 10lb turkey, stuffing mix, mix veg package.

Jessica - what state are you in? This is great insight!

Turkeys sound delicious!!

Jessica...do you have that in writing????

Please share

Ohio

Jessica - can you forward that information??

OHIO! Woo!

@Jessica, can you speak more about the +7 day meal distribution

do families pre order TD meal

Good morning: As discussed on the call this morning, USDA has approved a longer than “weeks worth” of meals to be distributed during the upcoming holiday breaks this year if that is what fits the local model. Let me know if you have questions or want to discuss your district’s distribution scenario. Good talking with you all this morning and let us know if there is anything you need. Brigette Hires, PhD, RD, Child Nutrition Program Manager, Office of Integrated Student Supports

Thank you Jessica!!!!!!!!!

Has anyone figured out how they are going to pass out meals after the holiday break is over? We are missing Mon - Tues for the week we return, because we pass out meals on Wed and Fri

Amazing thank you! I will include this in information from Jessica in the follow up resources as well.

WOW -- a turkey!  Very cool

Is the +7 days of meals in unique situations available to only Ohio Districts? Or all states?

Our school districts change the days they pass out meals to accommodate for holiday changes,

Melissa, We are passing out 7 Days on Monday 11/23 curbside. And taking by appt anyone who needs meals Tuesday prior to our Wednesday weekly pickups to schedule one in advance.

Shout out to Susan Cooper for sharing insights on how she is serving onsite students/hybrid model! :) 

@Hannah - definitely check with your state agency, but if Ohio is receiving this guidance from USDA, then other states should be able to get similar approval.

Hi Kat! :D I didn't think of appointments. The staff won

't change days of service

For schools that are doing on-site feeding, how are they disposing leftover liquid milk not drunken by students? Do they collect in a jug/bucket? Throw away in trash?

@susan dalandan, in California they are good for 1 year from date of issuance. each state PEBT program is implemented differently. check with PA social services dept

Ohio got the information from USDA Midwest, so considering each USDA office is not always on the same page :-/ ... PLEASE check with your SA

^ good point!!!

Just a reminder to all - the chat box will be visible in the recording we send out

Download a sample program integrity/parent meal pick up policy from: www.lunchassist.org/covid-19

The Carton Council has a take home flyer that reminds students to recycle whether they are eating lunch in the classroom, cafeteria or at home.  

@ regina salmon. yes. I believe that is true. the extension is only for closed/hybrid schools according to the colored tiers system at the time CA got federal approval. what’s your school and county and I can follow up?

Download a sample program integrity/parent meal pick up policy from: www.lunchassist.org/covid-19

spanish info flyer for PEBT [link]

Image above is what to look for on the website to download the integrity plan

Attitude of Gratitude, That's awesome! Thank you.

In PA where it is cold already, most schools are hybrid to reduce the number of students in school at any one time. Depending on age and school, many students are getting lunch in the classroom. Others are doing timed slots, utilizing any spaces that were large enough for them to set up for social distancing, including lounges, cafeteria, and recreation facilities.

Thank you for sharing, Susan!

Ideas for expressing gratitude: [link]

Love this! Grateful for all of you and sharing these great resources!

MHUSD Nutrition handed out mini pumpkins with "thank you" notes tied to them.

I'm inviting them all to Italy.  Hopefully sooner than later.  

Love the pumpkin idea, Michael! So cute!

thanks for the great info

Happy to join you, Miguel! lol

Pumpkins! So cute MHUSD - great idea :)

Miguel - can we all go???

Was gonna say, Miguel, be careful where you advertise that :) we all need a vacation ha ha

Cute idea Michael, I need to come visit MHUSD

Links to all of these resources and grants, scholarships and webinars will be shared in the follow up resources! :)

Nice graphics!

Those look great! Nice job AHG/NDWA

CHIP’s resources are great for enrichment programs for snack and supper programs! Thank you CHIP and FTI!

CHIP's collection of lessons can be used as the enrichment portion for afterschool programs! :) 

Jen, we are on the same page :)

Our families will be very happy to receive these flyers.

Agree Mickinzie.  We ALL need a vacation.  See you and others in Italy!  

For farm to school lessons and enrichment activities, you can visit: [link]

Thank you Nora!

Thank you Brandy and Rachel for sharing this opportunity with us :)

Thanks Krysta for presenting! Hi everyone, please email me if you are interested in our professional development scholarships! So excited to see the work everyone is doing!

Woohoo!

Yeah SLCUSD!!!

Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate course scholarship applications are available here: [link]

Thank you for sharing! Email us with any questions! 

Thanks for all this great resources Elizabeth & team :D

@Erin Primer: I’m still looking forward to enjoying one of these lentil burgers some day….

^ keeping with today’s theme. Love it :)

Must say that Thai Lentil Burger was ALL Erin and her team! 

Self Care Webinar: [link]

We are still collecting Income Funding forms for LCFF purposes. 

I thought we could serve supper and snack to all kids as long as we were offering online enrichement?

Our Nutritional Newsletter focused on being Thankful and offered a sheet for families to complete.  [link]

Thanks for sharing, Mary!

We are in hybrid...snow this weekend and Monday! Good times all around :-)

Is there a website to see what tier we were in? 

Thank you Brenda!

Are we able to use Alternate Income Forms to establish eligibility?

Thank you

Can Krystal send me the info that was on the slide prior to the scholarships/webinars slide

FRAC will be hosting a webinar today at 3pm ET on serving on weekends and holidays - timely based on today's conversation :) shorturl.at/rwKNV 

Thank you for sharing that, Mary!

Thank you for sharing, Clarissa! so timely 

[link]

Brook - we will be sure to send out all of the resources and slides as soon as possible!

okay, thank you for the clarifcation

[link]

Thank you Leyla!!!

I haven't had a haircut since February

No, higher reimbursement with SFSP than CEP

Same Stephanie D:

Stephanie, It’s been a year

We get much higher reimbursement under SSO

Wow - are salons closed in CA?

Hi Brenda can you please share the link for the flyer in english too?

I would get clarification from your analyst

Susan, it depends on county but in many they are still closed!

We just launched a new logo to share the word about free meals!  [link]

Ops,  let me try that again.

enlgish pebt flyer:

english pebt flyer: [link]

yes, please

[link]

Being that we have a new "Household Data Collection Form", that determines funding, how are schools providing the incentive to families to fill it out and return it, when all studentsare getting free meals as it is?

Thank you.

Nice Logo Mary!!!  Thank you for sharing

Iva - This has been a tough challenge for schools. However, we have seen some success from schools who share with families what the other benefits of filling out the form is, for the district.

Anyone else have participation decline with the first round of P-EBT was provided??

We did.  

I spoke with our Senator rep today who said Sen. McConnell announced that in addition to the budget extension, he will start pushing for another stimulus package.

Stephanie, yes.

Just make all meals free forever!!!!!!

YESSSSSS

^ :)

YaSSS!

The nice thing about the Alternative Income Form it can be made mandatory!!

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!

work with site principals to share the message and the importance to thier own sites

i think if school districts were the messages of the form, there would be more success vs the form coming from school lunch

We have it included in our registration packet and parent fill it out every year and anyone who doesn't our office staff is really good at following up

Stephanie,  Yes, we had a decline in meal service after P-EBT

We had a packet mailed out before the first day of school and our income form was in there.  All our students came to campus to meet their teacher on scheduled appointments the first week of school and most of our families brought their forms back!

We also had a decline.

If classroom funding is dependent upon families economic status, than make that part of the annual enrollment form.  Not our responsibility.

Kentucky is one 

Ohio does -- we are still collecting applications

We included in registration, on line

Appreciate everyone’s input here!

We always take applications

We used a social media canva campaign to help schools communicate the need for application - GREAT call Jen and team!

Emails, text messages, flyers, website posting, 1:1 phone calls to fill out forms together, and bringing forms along with food deliveries. We also made a class competition to see which grade level could get their forms completed and returned. New incomers would also get it in their registration packet

for new students

Amazing, Leslie!

Thank you all so much! Please join us again on Dec 5!

You ladies are WONDERFUL

[link]

Thank you Maureen!!

thank you all so much!!!

Thank you

Thank you!!!

Thank you!

Thank you everyone! great job!

Dec 3**

Thank you!

You all are rockstars!

Thank you!

thank you!

Thank you

Lunch

Thanks!

Thank you!

Thanks everybody, Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thank you

Lunch Assist is Awesome

Thank you!!!