• Home »
• Finance & Grants »
• Allocations & Apportionments »
• Nutrition Services

School Nutrition Program

Introduction

The School Nutrition Program (SNP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions throughout the United States. Through this program, nutritionally balanced low-cost or free meals are served to more than 30 million children daily. The School Nutrition Programs consist of the following program types:  National School Lunch, School Breakfast, Special Milk, Meal Supplements, and Seamless Summer Feeding Option. California's School Nutrition Programs are administered by the California Department of Education (CDE).

Once approved by the CDE to participate in the SNP, each sponsor must submit a monthly Claim for Reimbursement via the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS) to receive payment for meals served. If the claim preparer has questions related to claim completion or payments, he or she may contact the Child Nutrition Fiscal Services Unit, 916-322-8313.

For specific details related to allowable operating and administrative costs, program income, and meals, please refer to this link: School Nutrition Programs: Revenue and Costs or contact the field consultant for your sponsoring agency.

Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS)

CNIPS is the CDE's web-based system for administering the federal and state Nutrition Programs, including National School Lunch and Breakfast, Food Distribution, Special Milk, and Seamless Summer Feeding Option programs. CNIPS provides sponsors with the opportunity to submit claims for reimbursement electronically in a streamlined, timely manner, which eliminates the need for paper claim submission. For access to the CNIPS web page and electronic claim submission go to the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System site.

Reimbursement Rates

• Reimbursement Rates for all claiming types can be found at the Rates, Eligibility Scales, & Funding CDE Web page.
  
• For further program information, please visit the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Web site.

Claim Submission Information

• Late Claims
  SNP policies and procedures for submitting late claims.
• Claim Submission Dates
  Claim submission deadline dates for SNP.
• Address Changes
  Instructions for submitting SNP address changes.
• June Claim Only
  • Revenue and Cost
    Instructions for completing Revenue and Cost for June claims.
  • Allocation Food Service Costs - Residential Child Care Institutions
    Instructions for Residential Child Care Institutions for reporting Allocation Food Service Costs on June claims.
  • Allocation Food Service Costs - Non-Residential Child Care Institutions
    Instructions for Non-Residential Child Care Institutions for reporting Allocation Food Service Costs on June claims.
  • Depreciation of Nonexpendable Food Service Equipment
    Instructions for reporting Depreciation of Nonexpendable Food Service Equipment on June claims.
  • Printable School Nutrition Programs Reimbursement Instruction Booklet (DOC; 2MB)
    Claim for Reimbursement instructions for sponsors of the SNP.
  • Corrective Action Plan (DOC)
    Corrective Action Plan to accompany sponsor late claims.

Printable Worksheets

• School Nutrition Program Calculation Worksheet (DOC)
  Monthly worksheet to calculate meal reimbursement for SNP sponsors.
  
• Seamless Summer Feeding Option Program Calculation Worksheet (DOC)
  Monthly worksheet to calculate meal reimbursement for Seamless Summer Feeding Option Program sponsors.
  
• Special Milk Program Calculation Worksheet (DOC)
  Monthly worksheet to calculate reimbursement for Special Milk Program sponsors.
  
• Monthly Worksheet for Calculating Reimburseable Milk Served for the Special Milk Program (DOC)
  Monthly worksheet to calculate Reimburseable Milk Served for the Special Milk Program.
  
• Monthly Worksheet for Calculating Percentage of Milk Served to Children for the Special Milk Program
  (DOC)
  Monthly worksheet to calculate the Percentage of Milk Served to Children for SNP sponsors.
  
• Nonexpendable Equipment Depreciation Schedule Worksheet (DOC)
  Monthly worksheet to calculate the Nonexpendable Equipment Depreciation for SNP sponsors.
  
• Summary Worksheet Food Service Cost Allocations sample and blank form (DOC)
  Summary Worksheet Food Service Cost Allocations sample and blank form for SNP sponsors.