Discover the best practices for professional standards and how to successfully track compliance in your school nutrition program.

2. Table of Contents
Getting Started
Local Education Agencies
Industry Knowledge
Requirements for District Directors
Exceptions to Requirements
Requirements for State Directors
Training Requirements
USDA Training Grants
Impacts of Non-Compliance
Creating Accountability
Motivate Staff to Meet Standards
Training Codes and Tracking
Customized Tracking
Administrative Reviews
Additional Resources
About the Author
Citations
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3. Getting Started
How To Avoid Headaches
(A Guide We Should Make For Everything)
Plan ahead.
Post training reminders and
set up employee alerts.
Post goals and provide a
way for employees to self-
track progress.
Stay organized and back
up all your information for
reviews.
Where It All Started
Section 306 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) passed in 2010. The
legislation amended regulations that expanded the reach of the National
School Lunch Program (NSLP), the School Breakfast Program (SBP), and the
Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA).
Although many changes came with the passing of HHFKA, it also helped to
establish professional and educational requirements of those in the school
nutrition industry.
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4. Why Knowing Your LEA is Important
The LEA brackets determine the required training and educational requirements for
employees.
Bracket 1 Bracket 2 Bracket 3 Bracket 4
Enrollment of
2,499 or less
Enrollment of
2,500-9,990
Enrollment of
10,000-24,999
Enrollment of
25,000 or more
What is an LEA?
A Local Education Agency (LEA) is a public board or authority which exercices
administrative control over the public schools within a designated region or
district. An LEA must be state-recognized.
Prime Tip:
October enrollment numbers determine LEA size.
Why Does This Matter?
The LEA bracket identified within your district impacts several factors of your
program. The Professional Standards requirements are set in place for your
managers and staff to have training suited to the size of the student population
they help serve.
Prime Tip:
LEAs
Prime Tip:
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5. Industry Knowledge
When Hiring Directors
All director positions strongly prefer or require at least a bachelor’s or
associate’s degree.
Look for applicants with an academic major or concentration in:
ff food and nutrition
ff food service management
ff dietetics
ff family and consumer sciences
ff nutrition education
ff culinary arts
ff business
ff or a related field
Those who do not meet this guideline can always attain a state-recognized
certificate in these fields or substantiate their knowledge with experience.
Why Set Requirements?
Why Set These Standards?
Requirements are structured to attract a larger pool of candidates when hiring.
Programs within larger areas, where the applicant pool may be more
competitive, will find the downside of a wider applicant pool.
Programs within smaller areas will find the advantage in standards that are
flexible enough to accommodate more limited candidates available at hiring.
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6. District Directors
LEA Size: 2,499 or Less
Directors hired to manage school nutrition programs within the first LEA bracket
must meet one of the requirements listed below.
Due to the small size and/or rural locations of these districts, current directors
hired who do not meet any of these requirements may receive an exemption.
(See page 10)
Preferred Experience
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent educational experience.
If bachelor’s is not in a related field, a state-recognized certificate or one year of
relevant school nutritional experience are needed.
Without a Bachelor’s Degree
An associate’s degree or equivalent educational experience, and at least one
year of relevant experience in school nutrition programs.
Without an Associate’s Degree
High school diploma (or GED) and five years of relevant experience in school
nutrition programs.
Directors hired without an associate’s degree are strongly encouraged to work
toward attaining an associate’s degree upon hiring.
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7. LEA Size: 2,500-9,999 <
Directors hired to manage school nutrition programs within the second LEA
bracket must meet one of the requirements listed below.
Directors hired within this bracket may apply under The Grandfather Clause if
they do not meet requirements. (See page 10).
Preferred Experience
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent educational experience.
If the degree of the applicant or director is not in a related field, a state-
recognized certificate, or at least two years of relevant school nutritional
experience are needed.
Without a Bachelor’s Degree
An associate’s degree or equivalent educational experience, and at least two
years of relevant experience in school nutrition programs.
Directors without a bachelor’s degree are strongly encouraged to work toward
attaining a bachelor’s degree upon hiring.
District Directors
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8. LEA Size: 10,000-25,000 <
Directors hired to manage school nutrition programs within the third and fourth
LEA brackets must meet one of the requirements to be hired.
Directors hired within this bracket may apply under The Grandfather Clause if
they do not meet requirements. (See page 10)
District Directors
Preferred Experience
Master’s degree, or willingness to work toward master’s degree. At least one year
of management experience, preferably in school nutrition, is strongly preferred.
Additional Credits:
At least three credit hours at the university level in food service management are
strongly preferred.
At least three credit hours in nutritional sciences at time of hiring are strongly
preferred.
Minimum Experience
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent educational experience.
If the degree of the applicant or director is not in a related field, a state-recognized
certificate or at least five years of relevant school nutritional experience are
needed.
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9. Rural Areas
For those living and operating in rural areas or in Local Educational Areas with less
than 500 students, the Final Rule allows for exemptions.
Those who aren’t grandfathered in as school nutrition program directors (new hires
or those being promoted), or who don’t meet the new educational requirements,
may be recommended by their LEA to the respective State Agency for approval
of the hire, at their discretion.
This option is meant to help recruitment for rural areas who struggle to find
qualified candidates. Although a majority of students attend other category
districts, a majority of districts in the country are classified as ‘rural’, prompting the
USDA to consider the needs of this group.
Exceptions
The Grandfather Clause
Professionals already working in their respective role prior to July 1st, 2015 are
‘‘grandfathered” into the new professional standards.
This does not apply to those who move to a different position, or directors who
move to a higher LEA bracket. Though, if they stay at the same LEA bracket or
go to a lower LEA bracket, the clause still applies to them.
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10. State Directors of School Nutrition
Education: Bachelor’s degree in relevant or related field
Experience: Extensive relevant knowledge and experience in areas
such as institutional food service operations, management, business, and/
or nutrition education
Skill: Abilities and skills to lead, manage, and supervise
A State Director must also have 15 hours of additional training
State Director of Distributing Agency
Bachelor’s degree with any academic major or must have a minimum 15 hours
of additional training.
State Level Positions
State school nutrition and distributing agency directors require 15 hours of annual
training. This also applies to state directors.
State Directors
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11. Training Requirements
*For the most up-to-date requirements, always check the USDA website.
All regulations are subject to change.
Employee Position Director Manager Staff Staff (PT)
Requirements from
07/01/15 – 06/30/16
8 Hours 6 Hours 4 Hours 4 Hours
Requirements from
07/01/16 – Forward
12 Hours 10 Hours 6 Hours 4 Hours
Food Safety Training
One of the most important parts of food handling is understanding food safety!
Food safety is extremely important for those handling or preparing food.
You or the professionals in your organization may receive training and earn
certification via ServSafe, as is recommended by the USDA.
Food Service professionals must be aware of potential risks preparing food.
ServSafe is a USDA recommended training/certification source and offers
courses which meet the particular regulatory requirements of each U.S. state.
Training Reduction
For the first year of implementation, qualified as July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2016, all
nutrition professionals saw a reduction in the required hours of yearly training,
except for staff working less than 20 hours per week.*
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12. Available Funding
Congress earmarked $4 million in the USDA budget to ensure all state agencies
in need of additional resources and support would be able to provide
adequate training and meet minimum requirements.
Each state agency may apply for a grant for a maximum of $150,000.
Applying For Grants
At grants.gov, you will find all the resources your program or state may need to
draft a grant proposal for additional funds.
Grant proposals may be submitted via grants.gov and recipients are
announced on September 30th of each fiscal year.
USDA Training Grants
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13. Does This Affect Funding?
Falling below Professional Standards guidelines doesn’t carry a financial penalty.
Those schools, districts, or states which fall below the training standards may
not see any impact on the funding they receive from the USDA, but other
consequences may occur.
So What Will Happen?
For those districts or states who either hired a director who does not meet eligibility
criteria for hiring, or have employees not meeting minimum training requirements,
state directors are required to step in and facilitate the process of bringing
employees up to standards.
Actual repercussions are dependent on the individual State Agency and situation.
Non-Compliance
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14. Redefining Accountability
Accountability is often a scary word that we associate with being in trouble.
Let’s change that. Make “acountability” in your cafeterias another word for fun
and friendly competition amongst your employees.
It’s Important: Delegate!
If tracking the progress your professionals are making towards their goals proves a
challenge, delegate some of the hassle!
The first mistake directors who oversee these requirements make is to think that
their employees must only be involved in one aspect: attending training.
Instead, try this:
Engage all professionals you oversee by making sure postings of their hourly
training progress is present in every front or back office.
Create a poster board with each of their names and a progress bar to show how
many hours they’ve completed versus how many are left. It’s easy!
Posting it beside your calendar of upcoming training events for the year also
means they get to plan ahead.
Delegate Your Stress!
Step 1:
Ensure that training is flexible enough for employees to learn not just what benefits
the overall program, but also interests them.
Step 2:
Create a sense of independence to encourage each employee to take charge of
her/his own goals and achievement.
Accountability
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15. Create Incentives!
Take steps that help your employees see training as something that they want to
do, rather than something they’re being dragged into doing.
Award prizes to the first to meet their training requirements or who excelled
during training!
Making it Fun For All
ffCreate raffles within training events.
ffConduct Jeopardy games to check they’ve remembered all the
information.
ffInitiate pop quizzes with small prizes for those who get the most questions
right.
What Can Go Right:
Employees begin to target training either they, their coworkers, or others in a
given program need. That’s one more thing off your plate.
Employees will self-track their progress and keep each other accountable from
cafeteria to cafeteria.
What Can Go Wrong:
If you use these incentives and ideas to create a self-managed program, nothing
will go wrong!
Get training out of the way early in the year.
Motivating Staff
Prime Tip:
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16. Why Use Codes?
Codes are set by the USDA based on training topic. Training codes are used to
make administrative reviews and audits a cinch.
Codes vary by section topic. These topics are meant to help enhance the
professional abilities and knowledge of your staff. More comprehensive access
is available on the USDA website.
There are four key training areas:
Nutrition (1000)
Operations (2000)
Administration (3000)
Communications and Marketing (4000)
Understanding USDA Codes
The USDA has suggested training topics for each key area, depending on the
level of the individual in your program. With PrimeroEdge’s free professional
standards solution, Team Work, these key areas and subtopics come preloaded
and are customizable for your program.
How Codes Help Tracking
When choosing the best method to track professional standards, ensure that it
allows for a non-repetitive way for you to constantly reference these codes.
The use of easily transferable and universal codes make the administrative
review process much easier.
With the FREE Team Work solution, right when you open the online tracker, you’ll
be able to see the breakdown in charts of all your employee’s progress for a
quick visual.
Motivate Staff to Meet StandardsCodes and Tracking
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17. USDA Tracker
The USDA currently has a Professional Standards Tracker that uses Microsoft
Access and allows you to enter training information for each employee. There’s
an option for those with and without Microsoft Suite Access. The tool will only
track training hours - not other additional information.
Pros: Free and easy to use
Cons: Very limited, Not collaborative, Repetitive entries, Highly manual, Loss risk
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a program most directors have access to. However, Excel
carries limitations in accessibility and report generation.
Pros: Customize your spreadsheet, Choose what to track, Free
Cons: Limited functionality based on user, Highly manual input, Loss risk, Not
always user-friendly, Tedious
Team Work
Team Work is a free software offered by PrimeroEdge that helps to track
Professional Standards in your district, complete with user-friendly views and
reports.
Pros: Free, Collaborative, Cloud-based storage, Report-generation; Import lists,
Bulk-assignments for training events, Intuitive to use
Cons: You’ll have to think of some for us
Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean the responsibility is off your shoulders, it just
means micromanaging can be avoided.
Customized Tracking
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18. Measuring Success
Success during the administrative review process willl be simple if you follow all
the tools and tips within this eBook.
The most important thing is to ensure that everyone has met their required
hours, and is up to date on their food safety requirements.
All your information can be quickly generated into a report to pass off for
review.
With the free PrimeroEdge Team Work solution, you’ll be able to generate
reports based off of employee progress. This will help you track and report for
administrative reviews unlike any other tracker previously available to your
program.
Achieving Success
Along with this, emphasizing the importance of having a reliable system that will
ensure nothing is ever irreparably lost is extremely important.
Ensure that you have a backup of everything, or that you digitally store it all in
the cloud!
Reviews
Prime Tip:
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19. Want to learn more?
Get The Free Team Work Software By PrimeroEdge
Understandaing and Managing Professional Standards - Blog Series
Food and Nutrition Service
Training Tips, Flyers, Presentation Help
FNS Handbook 901 Training and Presentations
Professional Standards Flyers
Professional Standards Final Rule
USDA Online Training Guides
Additional Resources
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20. Harib Massu is a Content Specialist
at PrimeroEdge. As a part of the
marketing department, she writes
comprehensive and research-
driven content on issues affecting
all professionals working in K-12
child nutrition. Her aim is to provide
you and your program with the
building blocks to ensure mutual
success.
About PrimeroEdge
PrimeroEdge is committed to helping you achieve excellence in child
nutrition. PrimeroEdge was founded and is currently headquartered in
Houston, Texas.
PrimeroEdge is a leading innovator of software modules that help to
manage your child nutrition program from start to finish.
With all software developed in house, and an always live and
accessible customer support line - no one is better equipped to
catapult your program to success.
About the Author
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21. Citations
Definitions. (n.d.). Retrieved January 05, 2017, from http://www.ed.gov/race-top/district-
competition/definitions
Code of Federal Regulations, 34 U.S.C. § 303.23
USDA Office of Communications, United States Department of Agriculture. (2015, March
02). USDA Announces Grants to Support Updated Professional Standards in School Nutrition
Programs [Press release]. Retrieved January 5, 2017, from https://www.fns.usda.gov/
pressrelease/fns-0002-15
Professional Standards for State and Local School Nutrition Programs Personnel as Required
by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, 80 FR 11077 Office of The Federal Register et
seq. (2015).
National School Lunch Program (NSLP). (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2016, from https://
www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/professional-standards
National School Lunch Program (NSLP). (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2016, from https://
www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/professional-standards
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