To:Business Administrators

To:Business Administrators

Charter School Leads

Non Public Administrators

Food Service Directors

Food Service Management Companies

From:Janet Hawk, Coordinator

School Nutrition Programs

Date:July 16, 2012

Subject:Applying for the 6 Cents Certification

Part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 includes funds to support schools that successfully implement the new meal patterns in the form of an extra 6 cents reimbursement per lunch served. It requires that Local Education Agencies be “certified” to receive the extra reimbursement funds.

USDA has set forth guidance for a process that Local Education Agencies (LEA) must complete to apply for the extra 6 cents per lunch. State agencies are charged with approving the Certification Applications, and are also required to visit LEAs during the 2012-2013 school year to validate the information submitted on the Certification Application.

In order to be certified, LEAs must submit documentation demonstrating compliance with the updated meal patterns. Certification is a one-time process, unless the state agency is unable to confirm LEA compliance during an on-site validation review. In that case, the LEA must

re-apply for certification. When the LEA has become certified, the additional 6 cents will be effective as of the month in which documentation was submitted to receive the certification. The earliest a LEA may receive the extra 6 cents is for the month of October 2012.

The following documentation must be submitted to obtain certification to receive the extra 6 cent reimbursement:

Option 1 if you do NOT use nutrient analysis software to monitor nutrients in your menus:

For EACH menu grade grouping that participates in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and/or School Breakfast Program (SBP) within the LEA, submit the following set of documents:

1)Attachment A – LEA information cover sheet

2)One week of menus (a normal, 5 day week for schools; a 7 day week for Residential Child Care Institutions (RCCIs)), for both lunch and breakfast, if applicable

3)A completed USDA MenuWorksheet for the appropriate grade group, for that week of menus (a set for lunch and a set for breakfast, if applicable), including the simplified nutrient assessment module.

4)Attachment B - Certification form signed by the School Business Administrator or non-public school administrator, attesting that documentation submitted for certification is representative of the ongoing meal service within the LEA.

Again, the menus and USDA menu worksheet are required for EACH menu grade group within the LEA, for each menu type (lunch and breakfast, if applicable). For example, if the LEA has elementary, middle and high school menus, and serves lunch only at those schools, it must submit three menus and three complete menu worksheets. If all three schools (elementary, middle and high) are also in the breakfast program, 6 menus and 6 complete menu worksheets must be submitted.

If the LEA serves multiple, distinct menus within one age grade group, then documentation must be submitted for all menus served.

OPTION 2 if you already use nutrient analysis software to monitor nutrient levels of the menus(or you may follow OPTION 1if preferred):

For EACH menu grade grouping that participates in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and or School Breakfast Program (SBP) within the LEA, submit the following set of documents:

1)Attachment A – LEA information cover sheet

2)One week of menus (a normal, 5 day week for schools; a 7 day week for Residential Child Care Institutions (RCCIs)), for both lunch and breakfast, if applicable.

3)The completed USDA Menu Worksheet for the appropriate grade group, for lunch and breakfast, if applicable, without completing the nutrient assessment module.

4)A computerized nutrient analysis of calories and saturated fats for each of the menus submitted.

5)Attachment B - Certification form signed by the School Business Administrator or non-public school administrator, attesting that documentation submitted for certification is representative of the ongoing meal service within the LEA.

NOTE: All documentation must support whatever menu requirements are in affect at the time of requested certification. This means that for the School Breakfast Program, menus and supporting documentation must meet the current food based breakfast meal pattern, since the new meal pattern is not effective for breakfast until the 2013-2014 school year.

As mentioned previously, the extra 6 cents does not become available until October 2012. Therefore, if the LEA applies for certification prior to October, the menus and USDA menu worksheet data must be for menus planned for October or November 2012.

USDA does NOT allow the option of “opting out” of this certification process. However, you may apply at any time during the 2012-13 school year.

Within 60 days of receipt of the certification documentation, School Nutrition Programs staff will review and notify the LEA of approval. For any documentation received prior to September 30, 2012 state agencies have 90 days to approve the application. Once approved, the 6 cent reimbursement will be retroactive to the month of the submitted menu documentation. So, if menu documentation is submitted for October, and the state agency does not approve the application until December, the LEA will receive the 6 cents back to the month of October.

Using the USDA Menu Worksheets

USDA has developed menu worksheets specific for lunch and for breakfast, for each of the grade groupings required in the new meal regulations: K-5, 6-8, 9-12, and K-8. The breakfast worksheet reflects the current meal pattern for grades K-12. Each of these worksheets can be found in SNEARS Resources, under the category 6 Cent Certification. Once you access these documents, save them on your computer so that you can work with them and enter and save your data. There are also instructions on how to complete the worksheet and how to complete the information for the simplified nutrient assessment found within each worksheet. General instructions are also available as separate documents:

Instructions for Menu Worksheet

Lunch Worksheet, K-5

Lunch Worksheet, 6-8

Lunch Worksheet, 9-12

Lunch Worksheet, K-8

Breakfast Worksheet, K-12

Instructions for Simplified Nutrient Assessment

Data Transfer Directions

The USDA Menu Worksheets are quite involved, and it really requires taking the time to read the instructions, step by step. Some knowledge of how Excel works would also be very helpful. To assist LEAs in the use of this worksheet, the Division will be offering a webinar demonstration on August 21, 2012 from 10-11:30 AM. Click on the following link to register for the webinar:

When completing the menu worksheets to apply for the 6 cent certification, all menu choices planned for each day of the week’s menu should be included – even if you have different serving areas or stations. This will include all components of the reimbursable meal: meat/meat alternate, grains, fruits, vegetables, and milk. For this USDA worksheet which that is required for the 6 cent certification, all menu choices are included on one worksheet. However, each serving area must be planned individually to be sure all components to the reimbursable meal in the proper portions are available to the students accessing their meal in that serving area.

NOTE: The following website is helpful to determine calorie and saturated fat levels for various menu items:

Also, the USDA fact sheets contain this information for USDA Foods, and can be accessed at:

After the USDA menu worksheets have been completed it is imperative to save them to your computer, as they will have to be emailed to this office for approval.

Once you have all of the required documents completed, you must email them to the state agency for approval, to the following email address: . YOU MUST PUT YOUR COUNTY AND AGREEMENT NUMBER IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF THE EMAIL. Please send your week’s menus WITHOUT graphics to help reduce the size of the attachments. If the attachments are too large in size, then you may need to send them in more than one email. If this is the case, indicate on the subject line the number of emails you are sending to complete your submission. Example subject line: Middlesex Co., 02311111, 1 of 2

Enclosed with this memo are Attachments A and B, which also must be emailed along with the menu worksheets, menus, and nutrient analysis if you are not using the simplified nutrient assessment included in the USDA Menu Worksheet. The signed certification (Attachment B) may be scanned and attached to the email.

As required by these new regulations, the School Nutrition Programs staff will be doing on-site visits during the 2012-2013 school year to validate the 6 cent certification documentation. You will be contacted in advance as to the date of the validation review.

The Division of Food and Nutrition will continue to assist you as much as possible, as we work together to embrace these changes to the School Nutrition Programs. Feel free to contact the office at any time with questions or concerns at 609-984-0692.

ATTACHMENT ALocal Education Agency Information

County ______

LEA Name ______

Agreement # ______

Contact Person Name ______

Contact Person Email ______

Contact Person Phone ______

CHECKLIST OF REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:

□Attachment A

□One week’s menus for each grade grouping. Include both breakfast and lunch menus if

breakfast is offered.

□USDA Menu Worksheets and Simplified Nutrient Assessment (Option 1) for each grade grouping. Include worksheets for both breakfast and lunch if breakfast is offered.

□Option 2 only: Computerized nutrient analysis (using USDA approved software) of calories and saturated fat for each menu worksheet submitted

□Attachment B (scanned copy of original signature)

ATTACHMENT B

DATE:

FROM: [School Business Administrator]

[Local Education Agency]

TO: School Nutrition Programs

Division of Food and Nutrition

NJ Department of Agriculture

SUBJECT: Attestation of Compliance with Meal Pattern Requirements

Instruction: The following statement must be signed by the authorized certifier/alternate certifier (school business administrator) of the Local Education Agency (LEA) operating the National School Lunch and/or School Breakfast Programs, and returned to the State agency upon submission of the certification documentation for the performance-based cash assistance.

I, ______, as the duly authorized representative of ______[LEA Name], do hereby attest that the aforementioned LEA and all schools under its jurisdiction operating the National School Lunch Program authorized under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq), and/or the School Breakfast Program authorized under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 ( 42 U.S.C. 1773), are in compliance with the meal pattern requirements in effect for School Year 2012-2013, as set forth in 7 CFR Part 210.10 and 220.23, as applicable. In addition, for School Year 2012-2013, ______[LEA Name] attests that:

• Documentation submitted for certification is representative of the ongoing meal service within the SFA;

• The minimum required food quantities for all meal components are available to students in every serving line;

• All labels and/or manufacturer specifications for food products and ingredients used to prepare school meals indicate zero grams of trans fat per serving;

• The minimum calories required for breakfasts served under the Food Based Menu Planning option are offered and available to every student, as applicable; and

• All Pre – K meals are compliant with the current meal patterns for the age/grade group being served, as applicable.

I certify that this attestation is true and correct, and therefore, I believe ______[LEA Name] is eligible for the performance-based reimbursement. I understand that if the State agency determines the SFA to be noncompliant with one or more of the requirements set forth in this attestation statement, fiscal action will include, deactivating the performance-based reimbursement, disallowance of meals, and/or withholding of payment. In addition, I understand that an attestation of compliance must be submitted annually to the State agency prior to July 1 of each year through the School Year beginning July 1, 2014, to attest full compliance with the subsequent year meal pattern requirements.

Local Education AgencyState Agency

Submitted By (Signature)Received By (Signature)

______

______

School Business Administrator(Certifier)TITLE

______

DATE DATE