Appendix D10 SFA On-Site Invitation Letter

APPENDIX D10

INVITATION LETTER TO SFA DIRECTORS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE

ON-SITE DATA COLLECTION

APPENDIX D10. INVITATION LETTER TO SCHOOL FOOD AUTHORITY DIRECTORS

OMB Number: 0584-0562

Expiration Date: XX/XX/XXXX

XX/XX/2013

SUBJECT: Participation in the Special Nutrition Program Operations Study (SN-OPS)

On-Site Data Collection: 2013

TO: School Food Authority (SFA) Directors

The Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is requesting your participation in the Special Nutrition Program Operations Study (SN-OPS), On-Site Data Collection. The information for this study is being collected by Westat, a research firm in Rockville, Maryland for FNS.

On-site data collection will include:

• Observation of school meals (breakfast and lunch) including cafeteria activities and physical characteristics of the cafeteria;

• Identification of alternate food sources (school stores, snack bars, vending machines, food carts, etc.) including location, hours of operation, and the types of foods available; and

• Data collectors will interview school food service managers and record any strategies SFAs have implemented to encourage healthy food choices. 

The topics for the site visits were determined by FNS based on policy needs. Your SFA is one of a sample of 125 SFAs that have been selected so as to cover a broad range of SFAs with respect to geography (FNS region), size category, and poverty status. Within the selected SFAs, we will identify a maximum of three schools for the in-person site visits, including where possible one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school per SFA. The visit to your SFA and selected schools will be conducted over a 2 to 3 day period.

To help us identify three schools from your SFA, we ask that you send a list of the schools your SFA serves by grade level and the addresses associated with these schools. We will work with you to contact the schools for the site visits.

Someone from the study team will contact you soon to answer any questions and discuss arrangements for the visits.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-0562. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 3 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

If you have any questions about this study, please contact the Westat survey helpline at

1-888-202-1565 (toll-free) or by email: SNPOS@westat.com. You may also call John Endahl, the FNS Project Officer, at 703-305-2127.

Thank you for your assistance.

Signature (FNS PD)