Quarter-mile Site Proximity Reporting Requirements

Nutrition Services Division Management Bulletin

Purpose: Policy, Beneficial Information

Reference: SFSP 05-2017 Summer Food Service Program Questions and Answers, SP 09-2017 2017 Edition of Questions and Answers for the National School Lunch Program’s Seamless Summer Option

Subject: Summer Meal Programs Quarter-mile Site Proximity Reporting Requirements

This management bulletin provides guidance on the quarter-mile site proximity requirements for Seamless Summer Option (SSO) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) Operators.

Background

The California Department of Education (CDE) must ensure that the Summer Meal Program (SMP) service sites are not serving the same group of children for the same meal type per Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 225.6(d)(1)(ii) and SP 09-2017 2017 Edition of Questions and Answers for the National School Lunch Program’s SSO. In order to meet these regulatory requirements, the CDE has set a quarter-mile or greater distance requirement between service sites.

Compliance

SMP operators submitting an application to operate meal sites must use their SMP Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS) site applications to indicate that they are adjacent to another site and explain any methods that are implemented to prevent an overlap of services. Operators should keep in mind that there are circumstances in which more than one operator may service a site. For example, an SSO operator may serve breakfast at a site, while another SSO or SFSP operator serves lunch at this same site. These meal services would be allowed (SP 09-2017) because they are compliant SMP meal services, but should still be documented on the respective site applications.

Should multiple operators compete for the same site or same group of children in the same geographical area the CDE will take many factors into consideration before approving the sites for service including, submission date, term and consistency of operator service, and whether or not the operator can demonstrate full effort to prevent an overlap of services. In addition, the CDE approves sites based on a priority list provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The priority list is as follows:

• Local public school districts
• Government and private nonprofit organizations that have successfully operated the SFSP in a prior year
• New government organization operators
• New private nonprofit organization operators

Operators must note that the CDE is required under federal regulations to ensure that all program operators accurately report their compliant site information in the CNIPS site application. If a program operator incorrectly reports their site information, the CDE will rescind the site approval and may disallow all meals served at that site. Therefore, it is important for operators to accurately provide their site services.

Resources

The CDE Nutrition Services Division has developed instructions to help operators navigate meeting this site application requirement. Operators can find a complete step by step guide on the CNIPS Download Forms page.

• SFSP Operators: Form ID SFSP Job Aid 7 Quarter-mile Site Reporting Application Requirements
• SSO Operators: Form ID Instructions SSO Quarter-mile Site Reporting Application Requirements

Contact Information

If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact the Community Nutrition Programs Administration Office Technician by phone at 916-324-6153 or by [The preceding information is no longer valid] please email sfsp@cde.ca.gov to be directed to your SMP Specialist.