Tuesday Morning - November 10, 2020 An Update on Federal and State Policy Issuesfrom SNA Table of Contents COVID-19 Policy Updates USDA Publishes Updated Q&A for SFSP and SSO Extended Waivers for SY 2020-21 Federal Policy Personal Protective Equipment for Safe Schools Act National Institute of Health Publishes Article on Opportunities for Innovation in Serving School Meals State Snapshots FNS Publishes SFSP State Deadlines for Sponsors Mark Your Calendars Upcoming Team Nutrition Webinar Mystery Chat Corner COVID-19 Policy Updates USDA Publishes Updated Q&A for SFSP and SSO Extended Waivers for SY 2020-21 On November 2, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published "Questions and Answers Relating to the Nationwide Waiver to Allow SFSP and Seamless Summer Option Operations through SY 2020-21 – Q&As #3." This memorandum includes updated questions and answers intended to provide clarification to state agencies and program operators on issues related to recently published waivers for SFSP and SSO during the COVID-19 pandemic. Back to the top School nutrition staff at Richfield High School in Minnesota serving to-go meals to students. Federal Policy Personal Protective Equipment for Safe Schools Act U.S. Representative Jesus G. "Chuy" García (IL-04) introduced H.R. 8664, the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Safe Schools Act. This act provides $17 billion to school districts to pay for PPE, cleaning supplies, technical training and additional staff support needed to keep students, educators and communities safe during COVID-19. This bill has been referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. Read Congressmen García's full press release. Back to the top National Institute of Health Publishes Article on Opportunities for Innovation in Serving School Meals On November 2, 2020, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's National Institute of Health published the article "School Closures During COVID-19: Opportunities for Innovation in Meal Service." This article highlights strategies that school districts have used to replace the previous meal serving system, including a case study from Maryland and the USDA. This case study indicates that USDA waivers have provided the flexibility to allow school districts to continue to serve meals effectively. This article also explores lessons learned from the pandemic and provides information to help strengthen future school nutrition policies for out-of-school feeding programs such as the Summer Food Service Program. Back to the top State Snapshots FNS Publishes SFSP State Deadlines for Sponsors On November 4, 2020, the USDA FNS published state deadlines for Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sponsor applications. Federal regulations require that all SFSP sponsor applications be submitted to the State agency no later than June 15. States may establish an earlier deadline but are encouraged to work with SFSP sponsors that wish to apply after the state's deadline. Contact your State agency that administers summer meal programs to discuss extension options. Back to the top Mark Your Calendars Upcoming Team Nutrition Webinar On Thursday, November 19, 2020, 2:00 pm ET, join Team Nutrition for the webinar, "Crediting Single-Serving Packages of Grains in the Child and Adult Care Food Program." This webinar will show Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) operators how to credit single-serving packages of grains toward a reimbursable meal or snack. Attendees will have a chance to submit questions to the presenters and check their knowledge through interactive polling questions. Back to the top Mystery Chat Corner On November 10, 1969 which famous American television series created by Jim Henson premieres on PBS? A: Sesame Street Back to the top