KSDE Weekly

Upcoming Events, Trainings and Recognition

New Child Nutrition and Wellness website to launch Friday, Feb. 24

Other Child Nutrition and Wellness updates included

The Kansas State Department of Education’s Child Nutrition and Wellness (CNW) team is launching its new website on Friday, Feb. 24. 

The team had a town hall meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, to demonstrate how to navigate the new site. A tutorial also has been developed to assist in the navigation of the new website. It is located at KSDE Training Portal, under Child Nutrition & Wellness, Tutorials, General Information Tutorials. 

Please note that there will be a redirect from the kn-eat.org website to the new website. However, please update your bookmarks so that you can go directly to cnw.ksde.org as of Friday, Feb. 24. 

Other CNW updates include: 

New USDA guidance released on public health emergency 

Pursuant to the Feb. 9, 2023, declaration by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, the current public health emergency has been extended to May 11, 2023. The Administration announced that, at present, the plan is for the COVID-19 public health emergency to expire on that date. 

On Feb. 15, the Food and Nutrition Services released this memo related to operations in the child nutrition programs after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends:  

  • Offsite Monitoring of the Child and Adult Care Food Program and School Meal Programs After the Public Health Emergency Ends: This guidance announces the expiration of offsite monitoring for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the School Meal Programs 30 days after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends. 


Information on school breakfast waivers 

All Kansas schools are required by state law to participate in the School Breakfast Program unless they meet certain criteria and receive an annual waiver from KSDE. Waiver request forms for 2023-2024, which are due by April 15, can be requested by contacting Arleen Anderson at aanderson@ksde.org or 785-296-2276. 

Information on Kansas online application for free and reduced-price meals 

The Kansas online application for free and reduced-price meals will be available free of charge to sponsors to use for the 2023-2024 school year.  

Sponsors opting to use the Kansas online application for free and reduced-price meals are not required to complete the Request to Use Electronic Transactions in Child Nutrition Programs form.  

For more information, view the tutorial on the KSDE Learning portal at https://learning.ksde.org, Child Nutrition & Wellness, Tutorials, School Nutrition Programs (SNP) Tutorials or contact Karen Campbell at kcampbell@ksde.org for more information. 

Kansas Certificates in Child Nutrition Management awarded to three child nutrition professionals 

The Kansas Certificate in Child Nutrition Management is a program sponsored by the Kansas State Department of Education’s Child Nutrition & Wellness (CNW) team and approved by the Kansas State Board of Education. 

To receive a Kansas Certificate in Child Nutrition Management, 120 hours of KSDE CNW-approved management classes must be completed.  

These child nutrition professionals completed the requirements in 2022 and were awarded the Certificate at the January 2023 State Board meeting:  

  • Tara Daniels, Labette County USD 506 
  • Kimberly Baillargeon, Southeast of Saline USD 306 
  • Kimberly Chambers, Norton USD 211.  
     

The awardees are to be commended for their initiative to achieve the certificate and prepare themselves to lead Child Nutrition Programs of excellence, especially with all the increased demands of supply chain disruptions and staffing shortages. 

Congratulations! 

Farm to Plate subgrants awarded to 12 SNP, CACFP and SFSP sponsors 

Subgrants have been awarded to 12 School Nutrition Program (SNP), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sponsors that applied for up to $10,000 in funding to support Farm to Plate initiatives. 

These initiatives will increase the amount of local flour served in child nutrition program snacks and meals as part of the 2022 USDA Farm to School Grant awarded to the Kansas State Department of Education’s (KSDE) Child Nutrition and Wellness (CNW) team. 

Subgrant funding will provide large and small kitchen equipment, such as mixers, dough dividers, dough sheeters, proofing cabinets, small grain mills, waffle makers, kitchen tools and baking kits, to increase the ability to prepare from-scratch baked grain items. 

The following sponsors received subgrants: 

  • Greeley County Unified School District 200 
  • Wamego USD 320 
  • Baldwin City USD 348 
  • Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 
  • Victoria USD 432 
  • Coffeyville USD 445 
  • Oswego USD 504 
  • Childcare Links 
  • Martin Luther King Jr. 
  • Kid Zone Learning Center 
  • Feeding the Children of Central Kansas 
  • Sacred Heart 


KSDE’s Child Nutrition and Wellness team to host March Town Hall meeting 

The Kansas State Department of Education’s (KSDE) Child Nutrition and Wellness (CNW) team will host its Town Hall meeting at 2 p.m. March 21. 

Agenda items for the March Town Hall include a comment period for Nutrition Standards Proposed Rule, new USDA guidance, Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), training opportunities and more. 

Join the virtual March Town Hall meeting at https://ksde.zoom.us/j/84920437369?pwd=dXgrdE5ickp6VVVHRTFWbkowN0FJUT09.  

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Posted: Feb 23, 2023,
Comments: 0,
Author: Ann Bush
Tags: CNW

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