Join us for the next California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division (NSD) Tuesday @ 2 Town Hall, scheduled for Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at 2 p.m. During the Town Hall we will share an overview of federal and state policies, funding and training opportunities, and best practices for operating Child Nutrition Programs (CNPs).
This month’s Town Hall features two representatives from CDE’s Child Nutrition Advisory Council, Maryam Shayegh (Consultant) and Ronald Little (School Administrator), who will share their work developing the Adequate Time to Eat fact sheet. This fact sheet provides an overview of existing research and recommendations regarding what constitutes adequate time to eat, the influence it has on nutritional intake, and best practices schools can implement to ensure their students make the most of their meals.
Draft webinar slides will be available by 10 a.m. on the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS) web page on the date of the Town Hall.
Important Operational Dates: Next 30 to 90 days
- Prior to the start of Seamless Summer Option (SSO) operations: Submit and receive CDE approval of your summer 2025 SSO applications.
- May 15, 2025, or 30 days prior to the start of Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) operations, whichever comes first: Submit your summer 2025 SFSP applications.
- First week of SFSP operations: Complete site visit(s) for new SFSP summer meal sites.
- Prior to the end of the School Year (SY): Advertise the availability of summer meals to your community, even if you are not offering summer meals at your site(s).
- June 30, 2025: Deadline for new Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and Provision 2 applications.
- End of SY 2024–25: Annually obtain two food safety inspection reports for each site from the state or local environmental health department.
- July 7, 2025: Deadline for Food Distribution Program (FDP) Allocation Agencies to submit Distribution Center Allocation A orders through your assigned State Distribution Center.
- July 31, 2025: Deadline to update and submit your SY 2025–26 FDP contract packet in CNIPS.
Town Hall Webinar PowerPoint
Use the following steps to access slides on the CNIPS web page after 10 a.m. on the morning of the Town Hall:
- For School Food Authorities (SFA): Select Applications and Download Forms.
- For SFSP operators: In the SFSP Module, select Applications and Download Forms.
The Town Hall slides in CNIPS are marked “Draft” and are subject to change. If updates are needed, the CDE will upload the revised slides in the same location following the Town Hall.
After the Town Hall, the CDE posts the final Town Hall PowerPoint slides on the CDE Food Service Staff Education and Training web page under the Town Halls tab.
Background
The desired audience includes CNP Operators and Food Service Directors.
Participation Information
Tuesday @ 2 School Nutrition Town Hall
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Registration and Cost
This town hall is free to attend. Register in advance for this webinar
.
After registering, you will see a screen that says Webinar Registration Approved with a link to the webinar. You will also receive several emails with information about joining the webinar: First, you will receive confirmation the day you register and then you will receive two reminder emails one day and one hour prior to the webinar. If you cannot find the email confirmation, or do not receive the reminders, you can always reregister.
Tip for Attendees
To save time before the meeting, check your system to make sure it is ready to use Zoom.
- Visit the Zoom test link
.
- If you experience issues, visit the
Zoom Help Center web page
for assistance.
If you receive an error message that the host has declined your webinar registration, try using an alternate email address. While not ideal, you may also join by phone if you have technical issues logging in from your computer.
Professional Standards Crediting Information
- Key Area: Administration (3000)
- Training Topic: Program Management (3200)
- Learning Objective: Manage Staff Work Including Scheduling (3210)
- Instructional Hours: 1.5 hours
Reasonable Accommodation
Pursuant to state and federal statutes, individuals with a disability may request reasonable accommodation to attend or participate in the Tuesday @ 2 School Nutrition Town Hall. Send direct requests for reasonable accommodations to the CDE by email at NSDTownHalls@cde.ca.gov no later than seven days prior to the event. Live captioning will be available during the webinar.
Town Hall Informational Links and Resources Provided on May 27, 2025
The following resources were shared in the chat during the recent town hall:
- A current list of School Nutrition Program (SNP) Specialists is available on the CDE School Nutrition Programs Specialist Directory - School Nutrition web page or SNP staff can be reached via email at SNPInfo@cde.ca.gov.
- Find your assigned Child Nutrition Assistant or Consultant information by visiting the CNIPS web page in the Applications Download Forms section and using the Form ID Caseload.
- Listen to the Oregon State University’s, The Farm to School podcast
featuring Fort Bragg School District and the Noyo Food Forest.
- Download the Friends of the Earth’s Climate-Friendly Plant-Based Recipes for Schools
resource featuring 40 recipes developed by California SNPs.
- Submit your photos to the Celebrating California School Meals Photo Contest now through November 3, 2025. For more information visit the CDE Celebrating California School Meals Photo Contest web page.
- For questions on CDE’s Celebrating California’s School Meals Photo Contest email the Farm to School team at farm2school@cde.ca.gov.
- Review CDE’s Milk Requirements in the Child Nutrition Programs web page for information on the fluid milk substitutes for non-disability reasons.
- Access CDE’s self-paced Procurement training on the CDE’s Child Nutrition Programs Course Catalog web page under the SNP tab.
- Download a variety of Procurement forms and resources on the CNIPS web page, in the Download Forms section.
- Access CDE’s Procurement in Child Nutrition Programs web page.
- For procurement questions, email your questions to the team at NSDProcurementReview@cde.ca.gov.
- See the Buy American Exceptions Tracker in the CNIPS in the Application > Download Forms section > Forms PRU-10.
- For additional information about the Buy American accommodation process, please see the USDA Policy Memorandum SP 09-2025 Buy American Accommodation Process for School Year 2025–26
.
- Access the CDE’s electronic Buy American Accommodation Request form.
- Access the CDE’s Procurement in School Nutrition Programs web page and click the Buy American tab for more information on Buy American.
- Find items listed on the Federal Acquisitions Regulation (FAR) Nonavailable Articles list available at 48 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 25.104(a)
.
- For questions on Buy American, please email the NSD Buy American Provision team at NSDBuyAmericanProvision@cde.ca.gov.
- The CDE 2025 SUN Bucks Implementation webinar occurred on June 5, 2025 and registration is no longer available.
- Find SUN Bucks resources on the following web pages:
- CDE SUN Bucks web page
- California Department of Social Services SUN Bucks
web page
- CDE Universal Benefits Application on the CDE Universal Benefits Application Now Available web page
- CDE California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System or CALPADS Flash #297
- CDE SUN Bucks Inbox (local education agency inquiries only): SummerEBT@cde.ca.gov
- SUN Bucks Helpline (household inquiries) please call 877-328-9677
- Questions related to your SSO site application, contact the summer team at SSFO@cde.ca.gov.
- Check out the CDE 2025 Summer Meals Service Site web page.
- Download the California Meals for Kids Mobile App on all iOS, Android or Microsoft devices in the app store or on the CDE California Meals for Kids Mobile App web page.
- Check your site’s air quality using the AirNow.gov
web page.
- Review the Excessive Heat and Poor Air Quality Waivers for Summer Meal Programs listserv available on the CDE Nutrition What’s New web page.
- Find the U.S. Air Quality Index outdoor Activity Guides Publications
on the AirNow.gov web page.
- Information on the symptoms of heat-related illnesses is available on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Heat Health
web page.
- For questions regarding the SY 2025–26 FDP contract packet in the CNIPS email the FDP team at fooddistribution@cde.ca.gov.
- Need support with your SFSP application or to get connected to your assigned SFSP analyst, please contact the SFSP team by email at SFSP@cde.ca.gov.
- Submit your School Food Best Practices questions to SFBP@cde.ca.gov.
- Submit your Kitchen Infrastructure and Training questions to KITfunds@cde.ca.gov.
- Visit CDE’s Farm to Summer Celebration Week web page.
- Email your Farm to Summer Celebration Week questions to Farm2School@cde.ca.gov.
- Register for the California Agriculture in the Classroom Conference
on the conference web page.
- Find the Learning Management System self-registration instructions on CNIPS in the Application > Download Forms section > Forms LMS Reg 001 and LMS Reg 002.
- For learning site questions or support, contact the CDE’s learning team at NSDLearning@cde.ca.gov.
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding this subject, email NSDTownHalls@cde.ca.gov.