School Nutrition Programs Compliance Handbook

School Nutrition Programs Compliance Handbook

CHAPTER 8- Professional Standards for school nutrition professionals

Professional Standards for school nutrition professionals was a key provision of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA). USDA has established minimum professional standards requirements for school nutrition professionals who manage and operate the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP).

The standards established minimum education standards for new State and local school nutrition directors as well as annual training standards for all school nutrition professionals. These standards will ensure school nutrition personnel have the knowledge, training, and tools they need to plan, prepare, and purchase healthy products to create nutritious, safe, and enjoyable school meals. Required training topic areas will vary according to position and job requirements.

Table 1: Professional Standards Regulations

· Created minimum hiring standards for new School Food Authority Directors based on size.

· Established minimum annual training requirements for all new and current school nutrition professionals.

· Established minimum hiring for new State directors of school nutrition programs and State directors of distributing agencies.

Each School Food Authority (SFA) that operates the NSLP must meet the Professional Standards requirements outlined in the federal regulations [7 CFR Part 210.30 (a) through (g)]. These standards ensure school nutrition personnel have the knowledge and training they need to plan, prepare and purchase healthy products to create nutritious, safe, and enjoyable school meals.

Hiring Standards for New School Nutrition Program Directors

Federal regulation [7 CFR Part 210.30 (b)] established the hiring standards for SFA school nutrition directors. These hiring standards for SFA school nutrition program directors are based on the size of the SFA’s student population. Table 2 documents the hiring standards for new school nutrition program directors [as required by USDA Memo SP 19-2024 and federal regulations 7 CFR Part 210.30 (b) (1) – (2)].

Table 2: Hiring Standards for New School Nutrition Program Directors
Minimum Requirements for Directors	Student Enrollment of 2,499 or less		Student Enrollment of 2,500 – 9,999	Student Enrollment of 10,000 or More
Minimum Education Standards	Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent educational experience, with academic major in specific areas; OR Bachelor’s degree in any academic major, and State recognized certificate for school nutrition directors; OR Associate’s degree or equivalent, with academic major in specific areas, and at least one year of relevant food service experience; OR High school diploma (or GED) and three years of relevant food service experience.		Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent educational experience, with academic major in specific areas; OR Bachelor’s degree in any academic major, and State recognized certificate for school nutrition directors; OR Bachelor’s degree in any academic major, and at least two years of relevant school nutrition programs experience; OR Associate’s degree or equivalent, with academic major in specific areas, and at least two years of relevant food service experience.	Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent educational experience, with academic major in specific areas*; OR Bachelor’s degree in any academic major, and State-recognized certificate for school nutrition directors; OR Bachelor’s degree in any academic major at least five years of experience in management of school nutrition programs.
Requirement for All School Nutrition Directors for All SFA Sizes		At least eight hours of food safety training is required either not more than five years prior to the starting date or completed within 30 calendar days of employee’s start date.
SFAs with Fewer than 500 Students		At the state agency’s (OKDHS) discretion, the SFA can be approved to hire a school nutrition director who has less than the required years of food service experience, provided the applicant has the minimum education specified in the hiring standards for SFAs with 2,499 or fewer students.
SFAs with 2,500 or More Students		At the state agency’s (OKDHS) discretion to approve the hiring of an individual as director of school food services who has 10 or more years of school nutrition program experience but do not hold a bachelor’s degree or associates degree. The individual must have a high school diploma (or GED).
At the discretion of the state agency (OKDHS), and on an individual basis, the SFA can hire a new director with documented volunteer or unpaid relevant food service experience.
Specific Major areas include: Food and nutrition, food service management, dietetics, family and consumer science, nutrition education, culinary arts, business, or related field. Contact OKDHS School Nutrition Programs at AFS.School.Nutrition.Programs@okdhs.org* for more information about equivalent education experience.

The definition of “Director” is not based on named title, but rather the role and responsibilities a person has for a SFA’s school food services program.

Training Requirements for All School Nutrition Program Employees

Requirements are set by job category – job categories definitions are defined by job role and responsibilities, rather than titles.

School Nutrition Program Director

Individual(s) are directly responsible for the management of the day-to-day operations of the school nutrition programs for all participating schools under the jurisdiction of the School Food Authority (SFA).

Manager

Individual(s) directly responsible for the day-to-day operations of the school nutrition programs for a participating school(s). Not all SFAs will have a manager.

School Nutrition program staff:

Individual(s) without managerial responsibilities who are involved in routine operations of the school nutrition programs for a participating school(s); may include individuals who prepare and serve meals, process transactions at point of service, and review the free/reduced price applications.

Annual Training Requirements

Each school year (July 1^st through June 30^th) employees with duties in the school food services program for the School Food Authority (SFA) must complete training hours crediting toward the annual training requirements. Table 3.1 contains the annual training requirements [as required by federal regulation 7 CFR Part 210.30 (b) (3), 7 CFR Part 210.30 (c), and 7 CFR Part 210.30 (d)] by position type.

Table 3.1: Annual Training Hour Requirements
Position	Required Number of Hours Crediting Toward the Annual Training Requirements
School Food Services Director	At least 12 hours
School Foods Services Program Manager	At least 10 hours
Full-Time Staff (Employees who average 20 hours a week or more)	At least six hours
Part-Time Staff (Employees who average 19 hours a week or less)	At least four hours
Employees hired after January 1^st of the school year must complete at least half of the training hours for the school year [per federal regulation 7 CFR Part 210.30 (f)].

Not all trainings hours completed will be credited toward the required annual training hours in table 3.1. For the training hours completed to credit toward the annual training hours they must be in school nutrition related topics. Table 3.2 contains a list of training topic areas crediting toward the annual training requirements.

Table 3.2: Training Topic Areas
Key Areas	Topics
1000 Nutrition	Menu Planning Nutrition Education General Nutrition
2000 Operations	Food Production Serving Food Cashier and Points of Service Purchasing/Procurement Receiving and Storage Food Safety and HACCP
3000 Administration	Free and Reduced Priced Meal Benefits Program Management Financial Management Human Resources and Staff Training Facilities and Equipment Planning
4000 Communications and Marketing	Communications and Marketing

SFAs are required to track and document employees’ (with duties within the school food services program) progress toward compliance with the annual training hour requirements [as required by federal regulation 7 CFR Part 210.30 (g)]. OKDHS School Nutrition Programs (SNP) has a prototype training tracking tool which should be used for this purpose. Email AFS.School.Nutrition.Programs@okdhs.org to request this prototype. If OKDHS SNP’s prototype training tracking tool is not used SFA’s must obtain OKDHS SNP’s approval to use an alternative training tracking tool.

Training hours in excess of the annual training requirements may be carried over to the immediate subsequent school year [as permitted by federal regulation 7 CFR Part 210.30 (e) (2)].

Annual Civil Rights Training

Civil rights training is required to be conducted each school year [as required by USDA FNS Instruction 113-1]. This training is required for “frontline staff,” responsible for the implementation and operation of the foodservice program. This includes foodservice workers, teachers, and administers who interact with program applicants, participants, or households. Annual civil rights training is required even if the staff member is compliant with training hour requirements for the school year. For more information regarding the requirements for the annual civil rights training, see the civil rights chapter (chapter 3) of the School Nutrition Programs Compliance handbook.

Annual Procurement Training

Annual procurement training is required for staff members whose duties include procurement activities for the school food services program [as required by federal regulation 7 CFR Part 210.21 (h)]. This training must be completed even if a staff member is compliant with training hour requirements for the school year. For more information regarding annual procurement training requirements see the procurement chapter (chapter 7) of the School Nutrition Programs Handbook.

Professional Standards Resources

Table 4.1 contains resources available upon request from OKDHS School Nutrition Programs. To request one of the items in table 4.1 email AFS.School.Nutrition.Programs@okdhs.org.

Table 4.1: Professional Standards Resources Available from OKDHS School Nutrition Programs

· OKDHS School Nutrition Programs’ (SNP) prototype training tracking tool.

· OKDHS SNP’s Instructions for the Institute of Child Nutrition’s (ICN) iLearn app. The iLearn is ICN’s free self-paced online training application.

· USDA training objective/topic handouts.

Table 4.2 Contains professional standards resources available online.

Table 4.2: Professional Standards Available Online

USDA Professional Standards Webpage:

· https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/professional-standards

USDA Professional Standards Training Database:

· https://professionalstandards.fns.usda.gov/

USDA Training Tracking Tool:

· https://pstrainingtracker.fns.usda.gov/