Latrice Renee Harris outlines TMAC application steps and 06/30/2026 CEP deadline at Department of School Nutrition training

Latrice Renee Harris, data processing and reporting specialist for the Department of School Nutrition, led a virtual training explaining how to complete TMAC applications and Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) setup for the 2026–2027 school year. Harris told participants to select the upcoming school year in TMAC, verify prepopulated fields, and upload required supporting documents before submitting the SFA application packet.

Harris emphasized several near-term deadlines and data requirements: the CEP site list must use data as of 04/01/2026, and “the entire SFA application packet must be submitted by 06/30/2026 to meet the CEP election requirement,” she said. If a required document such as the program agreement or local agriculture compliance plan is not yet available by June 30, applicants should mark those files as “submitted to TOE” in TMAC’s supporting-documents section and then resubmit the packet when the signed documents are available.

The training covered step-by-step TMAC tasks. Harris showed the TMAC landing page and instructed attendees to click the applications hyperlink, select the enroll pop-up and the upcoming school year, then click the red modify button on the application packet to edit prepopulated SFA fields. She warned that applicants must check the certification box (“I certify”) before saving; failing to certify prevents submission.

Harris urged careful review of contact information, saying that incorrect phone numbers, email addresses or names can cause important communications to be misdirected or delayed. She also explained a new associated-user confirmation step: school nutrition supervisors or managers should review users with access to the SFA and remove anyone who should no longer have access. After the initial save at the beginning of the school year, Harris said participants should contact her to remove users.

Site-level guidance included clicking modify for each site, checking prepopulated fields, selecting program types (pricing, nonpricing, CEP), entering adult meal prices for NSLP and SVP regardless of pricing status, and filling in program start and end times before saving. For area eligibility, Harris explained the radio-button options and the requirement to provide details if ‘other’ is selected.

On supporting documents, Harris walked attendees through using TMAC’s green paperclip upload buttons to submit the annual program agreement, the local agriculture plan and the federal debarment/suspension form. She said a single signed PDF containing all required documents may be uploaded in both the local agriculture-plan and program-agreement locations if that is how the documents are organized.

Harris also reviewed CEP groupings and the CEP schedule, noting that group counts determine claiming percentages and that enrollment and direct-certification data must be saved for each CEP site. She demonstrated the flow: enabling CEP by answering the appropriate SFA application question turns on CEP supporting documents, which is where enrollment and direct-certification files are uploaded.

Harris closed by asking attendees to complete a post-training survey via QR code and leaving her contact information for follow-up questions. Corey Cummings, professional development and training coordinator, opened and closed the session and reminded attendees to put questions in chat for the end of the training.

The training used the acronym TMAC and the term SFA as used in the presentation; the transcript does not provide full expansions for those acronyms. The Department of School Nutrition said the training materials (recording and slide deck) will be provided after the session.