Our division, Food, Nutrition, and Wellness through the Florida Department of Agriculture, conducts CRE reviews to all schools. CRE is a Coordinated Review Effort.This review observes the national school lunch program. Our division monitors the school lunch program in schools, reviews/validates their documentation and provides technical assistance.
The CRE I participated in was for Leon County schools and was an 'additional review'. This just means it wasn't as in depth as a normal CRE.
The first day we met with the food and nutrition services director for Leon County and other food and nutrition services staff who joined us for the meeting. We then reviewed 10% of the free and reduced priced school lunch applications.
Part of my job this day was to review civil rights and make sure that at least one person from each school in the county attended the training on civil rights. I also reviewed 10% of the direct certification list for students and verified them. Student eligibility for free meals is determined by application or by direct certification.
Although direct certification systems vary by State, all such systems substantially reduce the need for household applications. Many States certify eligible children through computer matching of SNAP, TANF, and FDPIR records against student enrollment lists. Those systems require no action by the children’s parents or guardians.
This CRE was used as a training for our division. In two days, collectively we observed 6 schools in two days. Four people went to each school per day (12 of us total as reviewers).
The second day I went to an elementary school, which the director was helping out at. It was a wonderful school, almost brand new kitchen. The staff was VERY nice and great at their jobs. We had no findings of errors or problems. We had to check their storage areas and ensure their commodity goods were properly stored. We also watched breakfast and lunch for correct, complete meals.
During this review, I was able to spend some time talking with the director. She use to be the director of food, nutrition, and wellness (my division that I am with through the department of agriculture- but she was head of the division when it was at Department of Education ). This director is also a dietitian, it was nice to hear her story of how she came into the job as director. It was awesome to be able to hear her stories. After we went to the schools, we had a meeting back at the office about what we found and saw at the schools.
The third day we were at second school. I was at a special needs school where they have pre-k students through high school ( students through the age of 22 years old). We walked into the kitchen, and found out this kitchen was one of the oldest kitchens in the county. We observed breakfast and started our inspection.
We had some findings at this school started. We found some shelving was not within standards off the floor and there was some ice from the freezer fan. The staff was so nervous while we were there that a an employee actually dropped a full pan of collard greens. We told them it was okay and accidents happen. We met back as a team (all 12 reviewers) and discussed our findings with everyone.
It was nice to understand the way a CRE works and how what our division at FDACS does.
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