Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Food, Nutrition and Wellness  

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    DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER SERVICES

    Division of Food, Nutrition and Wellness

    Child Nutrition Program State Waiver Request

    1.     State agency submitting waiver request and responsible State agency staff contact information:

          Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS)

    Lakeisha T. Hood, Director, (850)617-7438 or 1(800)504-6609, Lakeisha.Hood@FDACS.gov

    Lisa Church, Bureau Chief of Child Nutrition Programs, (850)617-7413 Direct Line, Lisa.Church@FDACS.gov

    2.     Region: Southeast

    3.     Eligible service providers participating in waiver and affirmation that they are in good standing:

    FDACS requests this waiver for all county school districts in good standing with FDACS.

    4.     Description of the challenge the State agency is seeking to solve, the goal of the waiver to improve services under the Program, and the expected outcomes if the waiver is granted. [Section 12(l)(2)(A)(iii) and 12(l)(2)(A)(iv) of the NSLA]:

    On July 6, 2020, the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) provided guidance to school districts through an Emergency Order – 2020-EO-06: Further Guidance for Closing Achievement Gaps and Creating Safe Spaces for Learning.  FDOE took steps to ensure that Florida schools will be open while also providing equally as pivotal flexibilities that directly prioritize health and safety and benefit families, school districts and schools. This order also gave districts the financial security and confidence to secure a seat for a student that may decide to begin the school year in a non-traditional setting, be it virtual or one of the many innovative ways Florida districts are providing education, and later return to the classroom. The order combined with the FDOE’s Recommendations to Reopen Florida’s Schools and the Cares Act Plan are designed to work together to ensure each and every student in Florida can continue to receive a world class education, give parents a choice in their students education, and prioritize safety.

    These additional flexibilities also created pathways for school districts to craft their own locally conceived plans that work best for the communities they serve, while ensuring school districts receive the guidance and security they need to comply with numerous state and federal laws to ensure every student, including those with medical vulnerabilities, English Language Learners and students with disabilities.

    Each district created plans that prioritize the safety and security of students and educators and ensure all Florida students can continue to receive a world-class education. These plans, which were due to FDOE by July 31, 2020, include options for parents/guardians that include enrolling their children in virtual schools and home education programs in addition to in-person classroom instruction.

    The majority of the school districts have developed an average of three different instructional delivery models for its students to accommodate their learning and health needs. In the 2017-2018 School Year Florida virtual schools had 168,807 students. The number has increased in the 2020-2021 SY.  Once school district had more than 14,700 students have selected to receive instruction via county Virtual School over distance learning through the NSLP school. The same district had more than 1,000 students have selected to receive instruction via home schooling in their district.

    Many parents/guardians, when making decisions regarding the educational choices available for their children for SY 20-21, were not aware of the distinctions between remote learning and virtual schools and did not realize that choosing the virtual school or home education option for their children would result in their inability to receive meals through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, and believe that this policy is unfavorable given the choices that they were given by their school districts to protect their children as schools reopen under COVID-19 conditions.

    Based upon the concerns expressed, FDACS requests a waiver of the definition of “school” during SY 2020-2021 for the state to allow for the service of school meals to students that will not be enrolled in an educational unit operating in a single building or complex of buildings during SY 2020-2021 due to COVID-19 conditions.  This would allow students who were participants of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs in an enrolled school during SY 2019-2020, or who would have attended an eligible school during SY 2020-2021, to continue to receive program meals while participating in a virtual school or a home education program while COVID-19 conditions persist.

    The Florida Department of Health confirmed on Wednesday, August 12, 2020, an additional 8,109 cases of COVID-19, making the state’s known total 550,901 confirmed cases. An additional 212 Florida resident deaths also brought the statewide resident death toll to 8,765.  One new non-resident death was also confirmed, bringing the non-resident death toll to 133.

    5.     Specific Program requirements to be waived (include statutory and regulatory citations). [Section 12(l)(2)(A)(i) of the NSLA]:

    §210.2   Definitions. School - (a) An educational unit of high school grade or under, recognized as part of the educational system in the State and operating under public or nonprofit private ownership in a single building or complex of buildings; (b) any public or nonprofit private classes of preprimary grade when they are conducted in the aforementioned schools; or (c) any public or nonprofit private residential child care institution, or distinct part of such institution, which operates principally for the care of children, and, if private, is licensed to provide residential child care services under the appropriate licensing code by the State or a subordinate level of government, except for residential summer camps which participate in the Summer Food Service Program for Children, Job Corps centers funded by the Department of Labor, and private foster homes. The term “residential child care institutions” includes, but is not limited to: homes for the mentally, emotionally or physically impaired, and unmarried mothers and their infants; group homes; halfway houses; orphanages; temporary shelters for abused children and for runaway children; long-term care facilities for chronically ill children; and juvenile detention centers. A long-term care facility is a hospital, skilled nursing facility, intermediate care facility, or distinct part thereof, which is intended for the care of children confined for 30 days or more.

    6.     Detailed description of alternative procedures and anticipated impact on Program operations, including technology, State systems, and monitoring:

    Parents/guardians electing to participate in this waiver, if approved, would be required to submit a household income eligibility application to a public school SFA in the student’s assigned school attendance area, or the public school SFA the student spent the prior school year in attendance at, to enroll their child in the school for the purposes of the school nutrition programs.

    The public school SFAs would be responsible for categorizing or identifying these students in their student data systems in a manner that does not skew the free and reduced-price meal data for SY 2020-2021 and, in turn, adversely impact related nutrition and education programs that rely upon meal data for the issuance of program benefits.

    FDCAS would be responsible in approving the virtual schools in the state NSLP application system and adding the virtual schools to the statewide direct certification system.

    7.     Description of any steps the State has taken to address regulatory barriers at the State level. [Section 12(l)(2)(A)(ii) of the NSLA]:

    FDACS continues to provide SFAs with guidance on the current regulatory requirements of the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, under which virtual schools and home education programs are not eligible to participate.

    8.     Anticipated challenges State or eligible service providers may face with the waiver implementation:

    SFAs may encounter challenges with adapting their information systems to identify and maintain separate eligibility data for students not enrolled in a brick and mortar school, but participating in the school meal programs through the implementation of this waiver.

    FDACS may encounter challenges when completing the School Meals Administrative Reviews as the virtual school become part of the SFA review.

    9.     Description of how the waiver will not increase the overall cost of the Program to the Federal Government. If there are anticipated increases, confirm that the costs will be paid from non-Federal funds. [Section 12(l)(1)(A)(iii) of the NSLA]:

    The waiver will not increase overall costs of the program to the Federal government as average daily participation in the school nutrition programs during the pandemic have been drastically less than normal school nutrition program participation.

    10.  Anticipated waiver implementation date and time period: 

    Upon approval through June 30, 2021

    11.  Proposed monitoring and review procedures:

    FDACS will track and provide oversight to all NSLP/SBP/ASP school district sponsors who are approved to operate virtual schools. FDACS will collect district SFA implementation plans from district electing to participate in the waiver. Implementation plan shall include how the district will monitor the virtual schools for compliance of the regulations and to ensure the virtual school eligibility data is does not get combined or distort the brick and mortar NSLP school’s data.

    12.  Proposed reporting requirements (include type of data and due date(s) to FNS):

    FDACS will report the following data points once after the school year or once the health emergency has passed whichever occurs first.

    ·       A description of the impact the waiver had on meal service operations.

    ·       The number of sponsors and sites that used the waiver

    ·       The number of meals provided at the schools

    ·       A summary of findings associated with the waiver

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