Tuesday Morning - September 29, 2020 An Update on Federal and State Policy Issuesfrom SNA Table of Contents COVID-19 Policy Updates SNA Applauds House Vote to Extend Critical Waivers SNA Member Addresses Congressional Committee on Education and Labor FNS Publishes CACFP Area Eligibility Waiver Federal Policy FNS Response to SNA's Comments on School Meals Operations Study SNA Joins Allied Groups on Letter to USDA State Snapshots New Hampshire Introduces Bill to Provide Take-home Meals to Students Mark Your Calendars Upcoming SNA Webinar Mystery Chat Corner COVID-19 Policy Updates SNA Applauds House Vote to Extend Critical Waivers SNA is praising the House of Representatives’ recent vote to extend critical school meal program waivers through the end of the 2020-21 school year while urging for rapid Senate approval and immediate action from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to implement the waiver extensions. Late on September 22nd, the House passed a Continuing Resolution to include language allowing USDA to extend all Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) waivers through the end of the school year. Read the full press release. Back to the top SNA Member Addresses Congressional Committee on Education and Labor On September 23, 2020, SNA member Angela Richey, MPH, RD, SNS, addressed members of the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services of the Committee on Education and Labor during a briefing entitled, “America’s Child Hunger Crisis: Examining the Urgent Need for Federal Action.” Richey serves as the Nutrition Services Director for Roseville Area and St. Anthony/New Brighton Schools in Minnesota. During the briefing, she provided an overview of the many challenges school nutrition professionals face as they continue to serve students during the pandemic. She stressed how critical child nutrition program waivers have been to meal program operations this year and thanked the House for the recent vote to extend the waivers through the end of SY 2020-21. Read the full story. Back to the top FNS Publishes CACFP Area Eligibility Waiver Last week, the Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) published the Nationwide Waiver for "Area Eligibility in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) At-Risk Afterschool Care Component." This waiver allows schools and afterschool care centers to serve at-risk afterschool meals and snacks to students regardless of location. This waiver expires on December 31, 2020. Back to the top At Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland, school food employees distribute to-go meals to students at 59 school sites, including 20 mobile meal sites. Federal Policy FNS Response to SNA's Comments on School Meals Operations Study In July, SNA submitted comments on the notice, "Agency Information Collection Activities: School Meals Operations Study: Evaluation of the School-Based Child Nutrition Programs." This week, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) provided its response that acknowledges the significant impact of COVID-19 on school nutrition operations. FNS states that it will use a web survey to collect data at the state level this year. The survey provides data for FNS to assess how each waiver was implemented at the state and local level. The previously planned survey with school food authority (SFA) directors has been canceled for the 2020-2021 school year. Read the full letter. Back to the top SNA Joins Allied Groups on Letter to USDA On September 21st, SNA, along with almost 1,400 national, state, and local organizations signed onto a letter to the USDA. This letter requests that USDA issue additional child nutrition waivers to support access and program operations through the 2020-2021 school year. Read the full letter. Back to the top State Snapshots New Hampshire Introduces Bill to Provide Take-home Meals to Students HB 1512 permits schools to partner with non-profit organizations to freeze leftover school food that was not served to send home with eligible students who receive free or reduced-price meals. Back to the top Mark Your Calendars Upcoming SNA Webinar This week, join us for the first webinar in SNA’s new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Series and learn about the importance of building intentionally inclusive leadership. If you missed a particular webinar, catch up with SNA’s on-demand webinars. Growing as an Intentional Inclusionist® Thursday, October 1, 2020, 3:00 PM ET Viewing diversity and inclusion as a leadership function is vital for teams. During this training, Dr. Nika White will empower and equip participants to build their inclusion leadership competencies. Our first installment in this series is designed specifically for leaders of teams. These may include school nutrition directors, managers, state agency, and industry professionals. Back to the top Mystery Chat Corner In 1916 on September 29th, which American oil tycoon became the world's first billionaire? A: John D. Rockefeller Back to the top