Category Archives: Food Service Software

Food Service Software, Nutrition Softwares

2016 StateScoop 50 Awards

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MN.IT Services is up for State IT Program of the Year based on their work on Minnesota’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Data System (ECLDS). The award recognizes influential state and local IT programs that have delivered cost savings, superior performance results and partnerships between agencies. Voting for the winners in each award category are open now through April 15. Visit the StateScoop site and show your support with your vote!

Criteria

Voting is now open for the 2016 StateScoop50 Awards! Cast your vote today to recognize and celebrate the top 50 leaders in state and local IT.

The StateScoop 50 Awards annually honor the best and the brightest who make state and local government more efficient and effective. These awards allow us to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our peers and acknowledge their tireless efforts to make a positive impact in the government IT community and in public service.
Important Deadlines

Nominations: Tuesday, February 2 – Friday, March 4

Voting: Monday, March 14 – Friday, April 15

Winners Announced: Wednesday, May 4

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Cafeteria Software, Food Service Software, School Lunch Software, Software for Cafeteria

North Middle School Computerized accounting system for food service account

Students and families welcome to North Middle School!
We have a computerized accounting system that allows families to deposit money into a family food service account. Only one account is used for all family members. This is a debit system, which means that funds must be deposited before withdrawing money to cover the cost of breakfast or lunch. All students will be issued a four (4-digit number that they will enter into the lunchroom computer. This number stays with the student from year to year. Payments for breakfast or lunch are automatically deducted from the family account. Every one must have an account, even if a student is only buying milk for cold lunch. All students must either bring a bag lunch from home or purchase a hot lunch. Canned beverages are not allowed in the cafeteria. Soda and energy drinks in any type of container are not allowed. Food Service payments can be made at each school, online (there is a convenience fee of $2.75 to use this service) or mailed to the School Nutrition office at MFHS (W142 N8101 Merrimac Dr., Menomonee Falls). Place your check in an envelope with your child’s name, the parent’s name and family account number on it. If making a payment online, please access North ’sweb page. On the left, click on “meal menu/online payments” and then select “Family Lunch Account Information.”This connects you to “Wordware,” the
Lunch Cashier System or you may go directly to https://family.wordwareinc.com. You will need to register if it is the first time you are accessing your lunch account online. You will need a family key in Step 2 of the registration. You may call 252-250-6462, if you need assistance E-mail notifications will be sent to the custodial parent ,
or anyone with a registered email online, when your balance reaches $5.00 or lower. You may call 262-255-6441 or 262-250-6462 to check on
the status of your account. Morning breakfast will be served from 7:00-7:10 a.m. with an assortment of breakfast items.The cost is $
1.40 for a breakfast. The cost of the daily hot lunch program is $2.45 and milk is $.40.
NORTH MIDDLE SCHOOL
N88 W16750 GARFIELD
DR. MENOMONEE FALLS, WI 53051
(262) 255-8450 FAX (262) 255-8475
nms.sdmfschools.org
Cafeteria Software, Food Service Software, Nutrition Softwares, Software for Cafeteria

SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM (SCHOOL FOOD AND NUTRITION PROGRAM)

An accounting system and the necessary forms for its maintenance are prescribed by the StateBoard of Accounts. If these forms are properly maintained for your program, you will have little difficulty obtaining the information needed to prepare monthly federal reimbursement claims, quarterly financial reports, etc. Effective internal controls of cash receipts and meals served are built into the system by using one of several methods. The methods are the use of properly maintained and approved class rosters, prenumbered meal tickets, and cash registers.
Computerized cash systems could be used after submission and review by the State Board of Accounts. All cash register systems must be equipped with identification keys to indicate (1) paid student meals, (2) reduced price student meals, (3) free student meals, (4) adult meals, (5) a la carte sales and other additional categories the school corporation may wish to identify that may be required by the accounting system. The register must have locked-in audit tapes and non-resettable totals for each category. If any type of cash register system is used, the cashier is accountable for the cash registered on that machine when it is totaled and checked out.
If meal tickets are used, the tickets are issued to each ticket seller in pre numbered blocks. Each ticket seller is charged with the value of the tickets issued and must either turn in money or unused tickets to discharge his liability. A receipt must be issued to each ticket seller for the money deposited with the charter school. If a daily ticket is used, it is collected at the serving line; however, if the ticket is for multiple days, it is punched at the serving line as that day’s meal is served.
All methods to account for the cafeteria operation require that the person responsible for collecting and reporting the money received for meals be different from the person responsible for counting and reporting the number of meals served. Under no circumstances shall all duties be vested in a single individual. School Food Form SF-2, Daily Record of Cash Received, categorizes cash receipts on a daily basis and must be totaled monthly. School Food Form SF-2A, Daily Record of Meals/Milk Served, records daily the number of meals/milk served and must be totaled monthly and will be a source of information for preparation of the monthly claim for federal reimbursement. School Food Form SF-3, Cash Disbursements and Fund Balance, is used to record on a daily basis the disbursements of the School Food Service Program and together with the SF-2 acts as the source information for the calculation of the fund balance as shown on the SF-3. The disbursement categories Service Area Direction and Food Preparation and Dispensing are defined as: Service Area Direction. Activities pertaining to directing and managing the food service program for the school corporation. Food Preparation and Dispensing. Activities concerned with preparing and serving the food and beverages associated with the food service program. This includes operating kitchen equipment, preparing food, cooking, serving food, cleaning and storing dishes and kitchen and lunch room equipment.
17-2Forms SF-1, SF-2, SF-2A, and SF-3 shall be maintained on a daily basis and totaled monthly.
These monthly totals are a source of information for preparation of the claim for federal reimbursement, the quarterly financial report, etc. SCHOOL FOOD VERIFICATIONS OF ELIGIBILITY
We understand situations exist which could be a concern regarding charter schools test-checking the validity of information provided on the applications for free and reduced-priced meals. The results of test checks, are to be reported to the Indiana Department of Education in accordance with 7CFR 245.6(a). Some tests note a very high incidence of errors or inaccurate applications.
An error for purposes of the test-check is an approved application, attempted to be verified that cannot be verified by the program participants with requested income verification information (i.e.,paycheck stub, W-2, etc.). Program participants who have an application that cannot be verified are not always dropped from the free and reduced-price meal program and corrections in reporting and additional testing does not always occur. The State Board of Accounts is of the audit position charter schools shall request a written position from the Indiana Department of Education stating whether the corrective action taken was sufficient or if additional verifications need to be performed when high incidences of errors in test sample verifications are noted. The written communication to the Department of Education must also request a determination if any increases or decreases in funding will result to the charter school because of the concerns noted with the verification process.
SCHOOL FOOD SYSTEMS – PREPAID FOOD

Subsidiary records by student must be routinely reconciled to the cash balance and at month end.

The School Food Prescribed Forms and any approved computerized Forms will be required to be maintained in the following manner to accurately account for prepaid items. A column titled “Prepaid Food” is added to the Daily Record of Cash Received, Form SF-2, for recording prepaid amounts received which have not been identified as to revenue type, i.e., lunch, breakfast, etc. Amounts will be entered both in “Prepaid Food” and “Total Cash Received” for each day because cash has been received. Another column “Prepaid Food Applied” is also added to Form SF-2, which will show periodic (and monthly) activity whenever prepaid meals are identified (charged to breakfast, lunch, etc.). Amounts in “Prepaid Food Applied” must at all times equal for each day, the amounts charged to various categories, i.e., student lunch, adult breakfast, etc. that were not paid for in cash. Amounts will not be added to “Total Cash Received” because cash has been previously entered and recognized in “Prepaid Food”. You are merely transferring “Prepaid Food” to the applicable categories.
The final column added to SF-2 is “Prepaid Food Trust”, which is the running balance column which shows the difference between “Prepaid Food” and “Prepaid Food Applied”. The amounts in “Prepaid Food Trust” are deducted from the “Balance” column in SF-3 Form, School Food Service Cash Disbursements which then should equal the amount in the new SF-3 Column “Available Cash Balance.”
Amounts are not entered in “Total Cash Received” because “Prepaid Food Trust” is merely a balance column. Computerized systems must provide a list, by student, of cash balances which should sum to the “Prepaid Food Trust.”
Food Service Software, Nutrition Softwares, School Lunch Software

The Healthy Eating Index: How Is America Doing?

March is National Nutrition Month. Throughout the month, USDA will be highlighting results of our efforts to improve access to safe, healthy food for all Americans and supporting the health of our next generation.

About half of all American adults—117 million individuals—have one or more preventable chronic diseases, many of which are related to poor quality eating patterns and physical inactivity. These include cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and poor bone health. More than two-thirds of adults and nearly one-third of children and youth are overweight or obese.  Trends in food intake show that Americans are not consuming healthy eating patterns.

Earlier this year, the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the US Department of Agriculture’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion released the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Written for use by health professionals and policy makers, the Dietary Guidelines is released every 5 years to provide nutrition guidance for Americans age 2 and older to prevent diet-related chronic disease and maintain health.

The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) measures how the nation’s food choices align with the Dietary Guidelines. The nation’s current HEI score is 59 out of 100. The HEI score in previous years was even lower. At the same time, diet-related chronic disease rates over the last 25 years have risen and remain high. Given the robust science behind the Dietary Guidelines, it is not an understatement to suggest that if we were to eat closer to the Dietary Guidelines – and saw our nation’s HEI scores get closer to 100 – we would see reductions in the prevalence of diet-related chronic disease.

HEI-2010 scores for the U.S. population, 1999-2012

HEI-2010 scores for the U.S. population, 1999-2012

With each edition of the Dietary Guidelines, the HEI is updated to align with the most recent nutrition recommendations. The current version is HEI-2010 and scores the average American diet based on intakes of total fruit, whole fruit, total vegetables, greens and beans, whole and refined grains, total protein foods, seafood and plant-based protein foods, sodium, and calories from solid fats, added sugar, and alcohol beyond a moderate level. The tool is being updated to reflect the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines released in January.

Monitoring scores in the U.S. population is one of many applications of the HEI. An HEI score can be calculated for any defined set of foods including dietary intake data, menus at restaurants, and a market basket of foods. Use of the HEI can apply to surveillance, policy, epidemiologic, clinical and behavioral research.

More than 200 scientific publications have featured the use of the HEI. The number and scope of publications continue to grow each year, with nearly 90 papers published in 2015 alone. A majority of studies published over the years have examined the association between overall diet quality and health outcomes. Examples of health outcomes studied have included cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, dental health, and ocular health. Researchers are also interested in comparing HEI scores for specific subgroups of the population such as children and adolescents, older adults, and specific race-ethnic populations. Scores for children and older adults were recently made available on the CNPP website. HEI has also been used to score the U.S. Food Supply and to evaluate how USDA food distribution programs such as National School Lunch Program and Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations provide foods that align with the Dietary Guidelines.

Learn more about the HEI here.

Posted by TusaRebecca E. Schap, PhD, MPH, RD, Lead Nutritionist, USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, on March 16, 2016 at 10:00 AM

Food Service Software, Nutrition Softwares, School Lunch Software, Software for Cafeteria

Child Nutrition Programs: Income Eligibility Guidelines

This notice announces the Department’s annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines to be used in determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals and free milk for the period from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017. These guidelines are used by schools, institutions, and facilities participating in the National School Lunch Program (and Commodity School Program), School Breakfast Program, Special Milk Program for Children, Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program. The annual adjustments are required by section 9 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. The guidelines are intended to direct benefits to those children most in need and are revised annually to account for changes in the Consumer Price Index.

Federal Register Link:
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/03/23/2016-06463/child-nutrition-programs-income-eligibility-guidelines
Type:
Notice
Publication Date:
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
PDF Link:
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-03-23/pdf/2016-06463.pdf
Food Service Software, Nutrition Softwares, School Lunch Software, Software for Cafeteria

Child Nutrition Program Integrity

The Food and Nutrition Service administers several programs that provide healthy food to children including the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, the Summer Food Service Program, the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, and the Special Milk Program.  Administered by State agencies, each of these programs helps fight hunger and obesity by reimbursing organizations such as schools, child care centers, and after-school programs for providing healthy meals to children.

This rule proposes to codify several provisions of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 affecting the integrity of the Child Nutrition Programs, including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), the Special Milk Program for Children, the School Breakfast Program, the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and State Administrative Expense Funds.

The Department is proposing to establish criteria for assessments against State agencies and program operators who jeopardize the integrity of any Child Nutrition Program; establish procedures for termination and disqualification of entities in the SFSP; modify State agency site review requirements in the CACFP; establish State liability for reimbursements incurred as a result of a State’s failure to conduct timely hearings in the CACFP; establish criteria for increased State audit funding for CACFP; establish procedures to prohibit the participation of entities or individuals terminated from any of the Child Nutrition Programs; establish serious deficiency and termination procedures for unaffiliated sponsored centers in the CACFP; eliminate cost-reimbursement food service management company contracts in the NSLP; and establish procurement training requirements for State agency and school food authority staff in the NSLP. In addition, this rulemaking would make several operational changes to improve oversight of an institution’s financial management and would also include several technical corrections to the regulations. The proposed rule is intended to improve the integrity of all Child Nutrition Programs.

Federal Register Link:
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/03/29/2016-06801/child-nutrition-program-integrity
Type:
Proposed Rule
RIN:
0584-AE08
Publication Date:
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Comment Period Date:
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
PDF Link:
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-03-29/pdf/2016-06801.pdf
Food Service Software, Nutrition Softwares, School Lunch Software, Software for Cafeteria

The School Nutrition Association ‘s 70th Annual National Conference (ANC)

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The School Nutrition Association has a presence in every state across the country. View links to many of the stat. SNA’s 70th Annual National Conference (ANC) will be held July 10-13, 2016! Join more than 6,500 attendees, including school nutrition professionals, industry members and allied organization representatives at SNA’s premiere school nutrition event of the year. Come prepared for a fun, educational and thought-provoking experience in beautiful San Antonio, Texas!

The Event of The Year

Join thousands of your school nutrition peers for a four-day experience unlike anything else in the K-12 foodservice industry. When you walk through the doors of the Convention Center, you’ll quickly see why ANC is known as the “School Nutrition Event of the Year.”

Final Event

Be sure to pack your “retro best” outfit for the ANC Final Event. RAIN—a tribute to the Beatles—is a spectacular concert that will take you through the life and times of the world’s most celebrated band.

Education

With four days of education, discover countless choices to gain knowledge in the areas that have a direct impact on your job. Plus, you can kick-start your professional development a day early with pre-conference sessions.

Exhibit Hall

With over 200,000 square feet of exhibit space, the ANC Exhibit Hall is the place to discover the newest and most cutting-edge food, beverage, supply, equipment and service solutions to boost your school nutrition program’s menus and efficiency.

ANC Sweepstakes

Would you like a chance to win a free registration to ANC 2016 in San Antonio, Texas? Simply tell us how ANC helps you LEARN, LEAD & SUCCEED and you could win!

https://schoolnutrition.org/ANC2016/

 

Cafeteria Software, Customer Satisfaction, Food Service Software, Nutrition Softwares, School Lunch Software, Software for Cafeteria

Software to replace school lunch tickets in Onalaska

ONALASKA, Wis. – Here’s a scenario: You’re an Onalaska parent, and you give your high school student, Junior, $2 per day to buy lunch in the a la carte line.

You hope he chooses a balance of nutritious foods, but you have no way of knowing whether he’s blowing the whole $2 to buy cookies every day.

Next year, if you doubt Junior’s dining decisions, you need only phone somebody at the school district’s food service program to get a report of his a la carte purchases, thanks to a new software program approved Monday night by the Onalaska School Board.

The ability to generate such reports is only one advantage for the district, said Sue Black, who runs the food service program.

The Wordware software program, which already is being used in Holmen and West Salem, also will make it easier for the district to collect money and parents to pay money.

With the software, each family will have one account to cover any number of students. Parents deposit money into the account, and the students are each assigned a four-digit code they punch in when they get food at school.

Black said parents can pay for two weeks worth of lunches at a time or a whole semester, depending on their preference.

Parents will be notified, probably by mail at first, when it’s time to put more money into the account. Sometime next year, Black said, she hopes to have an automatic telephone notification system.

The software will mean less work for school personnel collecting the money and passing out lunch tickets, Black said.

Black said problems with students using another student’s code have been rare in other districts, and to make sure it doesn’t happen, Black plans to have a picture appear on the terminal that should match the face of the student who punches in the code.

The software will cost about $18,000, which will be paid for out of a $69,000 surplus in the food service fund. Superintendent John Burnett told the board that money could not be used to help with the district’s budget woes in the general fund.

In all, the food service budget will use $43,000 of that surplus next year, including money for new lunch-related equipment at the high school and Irving Pertzsch Elementary.

The board also approved a nickel per meal increase for next year, except for adult lunch prices.

In other business,

n The board approved a $429,550 capital improvements budget for next year, including $263,000 in spending given immediate approval. The other roughly $166,000 in spending must wait until at least October, at which time enrollment figures will be in and the district will have a better handle on its final budget.

The board approved establishment of an American Sign Language club at the high school next year.

Randy can be reached at (608) 782-9710, Ext. 446, or rerickson@lacrossetribune.com.

Cafeteria Software, Food Service Software, School Lunch Software, Software for Cafeteria

The Osseo Middle School and Osseo High School will be starting an after school snack program

The Osseo Middle School and Osseo High School will be starting an after school snack program. Every child who is attending an educational or enrichment activity, in an organized, structured, and supervised environment after the end of the school day during the school year is eligible for a free snack. A snack will be two of the four food components: milk, grain,fruit/veg, meat or meat alternate.
Lunch Account Information Osseo-Fair child uses a computerized program for breakfast, lunch and milk. To briefly review how the program works; each family will have a family account from which money is deducted each time a member of that family eats. If you have students in both the elementary and middle/senior high level, they will all be drawing off the same family account. This eliminates sending lunch money with each child. Parents can send money, or preferably a check, with one student for the entire family. A minimum deposit of $20 PER STUDENT is requested. If you would like to pay more, you can do so.
When a student eats or has milk, his/her lunch ID number is entered at the lunch line computer and the price of the purchase is deducted from their family account. Costs associated with the food service program are listed with the Student/Adult Fees in the Outlook. Please encourage your children to start their day off by participating in our breakfast program. Children who eat a nutritional breakfast tend to perform better at school. Breakfast is served before school each day. Cards for students in grades K-5 will be held by the students’ teachers until lunch time. Students in grades 6-12 will be responsible for their own cards. When a family’s balance reaches $20 or less, you will receive an e-mail notification that your balance is running low. If you do not have an e-mail address, a letter will be sent home with your child notifying you of your low balance. The letter will also inform the parents how many times each child has eaten and had milk. You can also obtain lunch account information by following the breakfast/lunch link on our school district website. You will need your family ID to retrieve this information. You can contact Carla at 715-597-3141 ext. 1413 with assistance on logging into your account.
We ask that you pay your first deposit before the start of school. You can pay in the High School Office from 8:00 a.m. to 12 noon and 1:00 p.m. to
4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday or send your deposit to: Osseo-Fairchild Schools, c/o Carla Sieg, 50851 East St., Osseo, WI 54758. Payments can also be made online through the Wordware website www.wordwareinc.com . Many families used the online payment option last year and seemed to like the convenience of it.
If you were not approved for free meals through direct certification, you should apply for free or reduced meals by returning the application which
was sent to you at the beginning of August. Applications may also be picked up at each school office. If you received a letter from us that indicated that you were approved for free meals due to Direct Certification with the State, you do not need to complete an application to receive free meals. In order to have as many applications approved before the start of school, please return your applicat555ion as soon as possible. If you were approved for free or reduced last year because of an application, you will need to complete a new application by October 13th to continue receiving benefits. If your form is not turned in by this date, you will be required to pay full price until you turn in your form and it is approved. Anyone who would like to send in payment (check or money order) or the free/reduced lunch form, please send them to the following address:
Osseo-Fairchild School District
Attention: Carla Sieg
50851 East St.

Osseo, WI 54758

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Carla in the High School Office. Her phone number is 715-597-3141 ext. 1413.
Please try to deposit money and turn in applications prior to the start of school. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated!
Just A Bite
Handling A “Choosy” Eater “Choosy” eating is a child-size step toward growing up and showing independence. In fact, what seems like a challenge to you may be an early step towards making food choices. A child’s “NO” does not always mean no. What seems “choosy” may just be your child’s awkward first steps in learning to make decisions.
What appears to be choosy eating may instead be a smaller appetite.
The best advice for you is to relax and be patient
10 Effective Ways to Handle a “Choosy” Eater
1. Treat food jags casually.
2. Consider what a child eats over several days.
3. Trust your child’s appetite
4. Set reasonable time limits for the start and end of a meal
5. Stay positive
6. Serve food plain, and respect the “no foods touching” rule
7. Avoid being a short-order cook
8. Substitute a similar food
9. Provide just two or three choices
10. Focus on your child’s positive eating behaviors
Food Service Software, School Lunch Software, Software for Cafeteria

Wordware dedicated for providing best nutrition software to the schools for School Lunch

In looking at the development of school lunch programs with integration of school lunch software, one theme becomes evident. Students perform better in the classroom if they are properly nourished. Going back to Europe in pre-US colonial times, the first evidence of a food program started because a teacher wanted to feed his students a nutritious meal on a tight budget.   Over the years, different cities and countries in Europe gradually developed systems for feeding hungry children so they could study better.

Today’s national food program in the US has roots in many small food services across the country, sponsored by churches, home societies, associations and the like. Most were genuinely concerned about hungry and needy children.   In 1904 Robert Hunter wrote in his book Poverty that “every child shall be given a certain amount of instruction, let us render it possible for them to receive it” meaning ‘feed them’. School’s lunch software provides ease and fast process of lunch distribution.

Flash forward to today. There have been frequent headlines, social media posts gone viral, and news reports on the benefits of the new nutrition guidelines for schools. What is interesting, in light of why we provide nourishment to our future workforce, is that no one seems to be asking the teachers if it is making a difference. Are students overall performing better? Are reading, writing and mathematics skills improving because, at least in part, we have a well-fed school population? Questions worth asking, don’t you think? This all is possible with the help of nutrition software, named lunch cashier system. Only school lunch software,in the industry which works on Windows, MAC, Chromebook. Wordware is continually developing their nutrition software to meet and exceed the needs and demands of our customers across multiple settings. Based on our customer needs and technology environments, we have created a fully web based program that will run on any HTML5 device and can be deployed as a fully cloud based solution or on an appliance. What does that mean to you? You can deploy our software any way you choose without a major investment in your infrastructure.

Wordware dedicated for providing best nutrition software to the schools for the health of students and to make worry free their parents.

Reference:

National School Lunch Program, Background and Development, by Gordon W. Gunderson, 06/17/2014

https://family.wordwareinc.com