1.  DEFINITIONS.
    
   1. Certified Food Safety Manager – a school nutrition employee who holds a food safety certificate from an accredited program as defined in the Georgia Rules and Regulations for Food Service Chapter 511-6-1.
       
   2. Certified School Nutrition Program Director – an individual who holds a school nutrition director service certificate issued by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC) and meets the requirements of director as specified in State Board of Education (SBOE) Rule 160-5-1-.22 Personnel Required.
       
   3. Classified School Nutrition Employee – an individual who meets the following conditions:
       
      1. Is employed in a school or school district;
          
      2.  Works more than 20 hours per week; and
          
      3. Completes the state required Orientation for Nutrition Employees (O.N.E.) course within the first full school year of employment.
          
   4. Classified School Nutrition Manager – an individual who meets the requirements of the Classified School Nutrition Employee and meets one of the following conditions:
       
      1. Manager trainee – holds a minimum of a high-school diploma or GED or was employed as manager prior to September 1, 1988; employment in this classification has been uninterrupted; and the individual has completed 30 credit hours of core Training-In-Depth (TID) annually toward completion of 150 hours.
          
         1. if hired after July 1, 2022, must complete the Manager and Culinary Pathway courses for Managers within five (5) years of date of hire; or
             
         2. if hired prior to July 1, 2022, must have completed a combination of the state-approved pathway courses for Managers and the core Training in Depth (TID) coursework within 5 years;
             
      2. Manager I – holds a minimum of a high school diploma or HSE and has completed the Manager and Culinary Pathway courses for Managers or has previously completed the previous core TID coursework;
          
      3.  Manager II –holds an associate or more advanced degree; and has completed the Manager and Culinary Pathway courses for Managers or has completed the previous core TID coursework; or
          
      4. Manager III – holds a school nutrition director service certificate issued by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.
          
      5. Manager/Supervisor – was employed as Manager/Supervisor prior to July 1, 2015, or meets one of the following conditions:
          
         1. holds an associate degree in a specific major (food and nutrition, food service management, dietetics, family and consumer sciences, nutrition education, culinary arts, business or a related field) with two years of relevant school nutrition programs experience, or
             
         2. holds a Bachelor’s degree in any academic major with two years of relevant school nutrition programs experience,
             
         3. holds a Bachelor’s degree with any academic major and a school nutrition director service certificate issued by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, or
             
         4. holds a Bachelor’s degree with academic major in food and nutrition, food service management, dietetics, family and consumer sciences, nutrition education, culinary arts, business, or a related field.
            
            All Manager/Supervisors hired after July 1, 2022 must complete the Manager and Culinary Pathway courses within five (5) years of date of hire and meet the requirements of director as specified in paragraph (2)(a)(5)(ii) of SBOE Rule 160-5-1-.22 Personnel Required.​​​​​​​
             
   5. Competitive Foods - foods defined by Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in Sections 210.11 and 220.12 as any food item that is sold to children other than foods sold or served as part of the National School Lunch (NSLP) and Breakfast (NSBP) Programs on the school campus during the school day or Smart Snacks, as defined by USDA regulations.
       
   6. Core TID Courses - Courses authorized by state law and SBOE rule for Classified School Nutrition Managers hired prior to July 1, 2022 and constituting the 150 credit hours that must be earned within the first five years employed as a Classified School Nutrition Manager. As of July 1, 2022, the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) has replaced the Core TID Courses with the Manager Pathway and Culinary Pathway courses.
       
   7. Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GPSC) – the state agency created by O.C.G.A. § 20-2-983 and authorized to assume full responsibility for the certification, preparation, and conduct of certified, licensed, or permitted personnel employed in Georgia.
       
   8. Local Board of Education (LBOE) – a county or independent board of education exercising control and management of a local school system pursuant to Article VIII, Section V, Paragraph II of the Georgia Constitution.
       
   9. Manager Pathway and Culinary Pathway Courses – a series of online, self-paced courses focused on the key knowledge and skills required to operate a school nutrition program. As of July 1, 2022, GaDOE has replaced the Core TID Courses with the Manager Pathway and Culinary Pathway courses.
       
   10. Primary responsibilities related to meal accountability functions – prepayment and collection of cash and counting meals at point-of-service except in kindergarten and special entities, including, but not limited to, special education, alternative schools, in-school suspension, and special events; counting cash for deposit; final and official approval and verification of free and reduced-price meal applications; oversight of the process for assuring accuracy and completeness of related regulatory functions; and maintenance of an official master list of eligible students.
        
   11. School Campus - all areas of the property under the jurisdiction of the school that are accessible to students during the school day.
        
   12. School Day - the period from 12:00 a.m. until 30 minutes after the official end of the school day.
        
   13. School Food Authority (SFA) - the governing body that is responsible for the administration of one or more schools and has the legal authority to operate the program therein or be otherwise approved by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to operate the program.
        
   14. School nutrition program personnel – those program personnel whose job responsibility relates to the planning, purchasing, preparing, service, accounting required by the program and whose wages are eligible for payment from school nutrition program funds.
        
   15. Smart Snacks - science-based nutrition standards for snack foods and beverages sold to children at school during the school day.
        
   16. State-approved nutrition program – a federal lunch program which operates in every school and is available to every enrolled student in attendance during the period of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and a breakfast program as required by O.C.G.A. § 20-2-66, including notification in the dominant languages to parents and students of the availability of the school breakfast program in all participating schools.
        
   17. State performance standard – the standard used to allot state school lunch appropriations that prescribes a minimum of 85 lunches to be produced during eight hours of work by a full-time equivalent school nutrition position.
        
2. REQUIREMENTS.
    
   1. Each SFA shall through policy or administrative procedure maximize student participation and quality meals in the school nutrition program by providing the following:
       
      1. Participation by all schools in a state-approved nutrition program.
          
      2. A policy regarding the sale of competitive foods which includes the following, at a minimum:
          
         1. Adherence to Public Law 11 – 296, The Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act of 2010 regarding exempt fundraisers; and
             
         2. Prohibitions from the sale of foods that do not meet the federal criteria during the school day and on the school campus.
             
      3. A job-related training program for school nutrition program personnel that when implemented:  
         ​​​​​​​
         1. Adheres to the federal and state rules regarding professional standards for local school nutrition personnel.
             
         2. Makes in-service training available to program personnel annually, based on local needs and consistent with requirements of SBOE Rule 160-3-3-.04 Professional Learning.
             
         3. Requires all new employees to complete within the first full school year of employment O.N.E. training or a GaDOE-approved local alternate.
            ​​​​​​​
      4. Requires each food service facility to have at least one school nutrition employee on site to be certified as a food safety manager, designated for that one site, who has successfully completed a state-approved food safety training program and passed a professionally validated Certified Food Safety Manager (CFSM) examination that is accredited by the Conference for Food Protection or other accrediting agency as conforming to national standards for organizations that certify individuals.
          
      5. Assignment of primary responsibilities related to meal accountability functions to school nutrition personnel.
          
      6.   In base-size school systems, system-level supervisory school nutrition personnel employed in addition to those required by paragraph (2)(a)(5) of SBOE Rule 160-5-1- .22 Personnel Required and assigned to manage or supervise or train multiple school sites shall minimally meet requirements of a classified school nutrition manager/supervisor or school nutrition program director trainee.
          
      7. A locally established salary schedule and number of full-time equivalent positions which meet or exceed the minimum state performance standard.

Authority O.C.G.A. § 20-2-66; 20-2-187.

Adopted:  February 16, 2023                                             Effective:  March 8, 2023