Back

July Child Nutrition Updates

07.07.2021

Dear SMS Client,
With the summer season well underway, we bid farewell to program year 2020 – 2021. Here are a number of important reminders and updates.

Wrapping up 2020 – 2021

1. Financial Books Closeout | Due: July 31, 2021

The deadline for submitting your Cash Resource Report will be in early fall. However, it is strongly advised to start consolidating and closing out your financial records for this past year. This includes reviewing your books to make any adjustments and corrections as needed, so that you will be ready to submit the report on time.

Organizations utilizing the De-Minimis indirect cost rate should make sure to review and reconcile their indirect costs calculations once direct expenses are finalized.

Now is also a good time to check if you expended federal funds above the $750,000 threshold, requiring you to hire an independent auditor to do a single audit. Be aware that this includes federal funds from any other programs and clusters, and it may require an institution-wide single audit rather than a program-specific one. Please note that the PPP loan forgiveness is not considered a federal funding source for this purpose.

2. Health Inspection Reporting | Due: August 31, 2021

Schools must report their health inspection information by August 31th, 2021. This allows the CN office to monitor the health department kitchen inspection at your sites. Reporting is done through a simple form on CNMS. (You will be prompted when signing in.)

Summer 2021 SFSP Operations

1. Daily Readiness

The SFSP staff informed us that they will be returning to “business as usual” this summer, conducting unannounced site. Therefore, please ensure that your menus, signage, meal counts, production records and timesheets are set up and ready on a daily basis. In addition, the inspections may include a review of other documents including all program records. On any given day, you are required to maintain program documentation for the previous five days, ready for immediate inspection on site.

2. P-EBT Round 2 | Due: July 30, 2021

In order for your students to have access to the second round of P-EBT, your school must submit their full roster to the CN office, even if  only a small fraction of your students are eligible. Schools need to update their rosters in Microsoft Excel using the format provided. The file name should be the school name, followed by the LEA code, and uploaded to the NYSED GoAnywhere SFTP site. For more information, see the state memo and sample spreadsheet attached. For any additional questions, please contact your SMS representative.

Preparing for 2021 – 2022 School Year

1. Commodities Co-Op | Due: July 30, 2021

Many schools that chose to join a co-op for commodities have received an email from OGS asking for paperwork. This documentation must be submitted by July 30th, 2021. You can use the attached “OGS Affirmation Template” to respond to OGS acknowledging your participation in the co-op. The Agudah and Askonim have finalized and submitted the co-op contract to OGS and will be sharing it with the schools soon. We will I”YH provide you with further guidance as it becomes available.

2. Adding Additional Sites | Due: August 1, 2021

If you are planning to apply for an additional site, you must submit an RA application by August 1st, 2021. If you would like SMS to assist you with your application, you must let us know by July 10th, 2021.

3. Menu Review | Due: Prior to the start of your school year

In the upcoming school year, all schools will be required to follow the NSLP menu. This means that schools which took advantage of the flexibilities on the SFSP menu will need to switch their menus back to NSLP. This includes offering all vegetable subgroups, a choice of milk and larger portion sizes. Schools that are vended need to make sure that their vendor contracts are updated accordingly.

4. Procurement Requirements

New York State has rescinded their State of Emergency status, and the Federal Government is likely to follow suit. Therefore, regular procurement regulations will be coming back into effect soon. Please keep this in mind when making food program purchases.
Please reach out to your SMS representative for further guidance and support.

Hillel and the SMS team

*  Please take a look at these attachments: