PUBLIC NOTICE
In response to the expiration of all Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) Nationwide Waivers, the South Carolina Department of Education’s Office of Health and Nutrition is requesting that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approve the following state requested waivers for Summer 2022:
- 7 CFR 225.15(d)(2) -1st Week Site Review Waiver to allow SFSP sponsors to request that the state waive the 1st-week site review for their sites that have operated successfully in the previous year
- 7 CFR 225.15(f) -Eligibility for Closed Enrolled Sites Waiver to allow SFSP and SSO sponsors to utilize area eligibility at Closed Enrolled sites rather than require sites to collect income eligibility applications to determine that 50 percent of enrolled children are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
- 7 CFR 225.16(c)(1)-Meal Service Time Restrictions Waiver to allow sponsors to waive the Federal limits on the amount of time that must elapse between the beginning of one meal service and the beginning of the next and 7 CFR 225.16(c)(2) the Federal limits on the duration of a meal service.
- 7 CFR 225.16(f)(1)(ii) Offer Versus Serve (OVS) to allow School Food Authorities (SFAs) to apply an “offer versus serve” (OVS) option in SFSP under the rules followed for the NSLP. This waiver would allow SFA sponsors following the SFSP meal pattern, or non-school sponsors, to use OVS.
Each sponsor would have to request the use of these waivers at the time of application. This is a required public notice that SCDE submitted a request to USDA for waivers from the aforementioned regulations and does not imply the waivers have been approved at this time.
PUBLIC NOTICE
On January 27, 2022 the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provided State Agencies the opportunity to submit a waiver request for monitoring requirements for the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) for program year 2022. Based on this guidance, the SC Department of Education’s Office of Health and Nutrition is requesting that USDA approve the State requested waiver to allow the State Agency and SFSP and SSO sponsors the option to conduct sponsor reviews and site reviews off-site and use a risk assessment to determine the level of review needed for each SFSP sponsor rather than automatically reviewing them based on a 3-year review.
This waiver is requested to be effective for Summer 2022; from May 1, 2022 to November 30, 2022.
For more information regarding requested waivers, please email the Summer Break Café Team at summerbreakcafequestions@ed.sc.gov.
