Hiring Standards for New School Nutrition Program Directors
The USDA has established minimum professional standard requirements for school nutrition
professionals who manage and operate the National School Lunch and School Breakfast
programs. This handout focuses specifically on the hiring standards requirement of this final
rule. The hiring requirements aim to establish minimum education for new school nutrition
directors in order to ensure school nutrition personnel have the knowledge they need to operate
School Nutrition Programs effectively. The hiring standards apply to newly hired directors only,
meaning those hired on or after July 1, 2015. The educational requirements are based on the
size of the school food authority (SFA).
Definition of Director
• The director is directly responsible for the management of the day-to-day operations of
school food service for all participating schools under the jurisdiction of the SFA.
• Directors have the responsibility for program: evaluation, planning, administration,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Specific tasks that may be completed by a director include: menu planning, food
production, food safety, procurement, financial management, recordkeeping, general
management, program accountability and personnel management.
• Determine who is in charge of your food service program. The job title used in your
operation may be different from the terms used in the Professional Standards rule, so it
is important to focus on job duties of your staff when determining who the “director” is.
• If your SFA has the responsibilities related to the SNP divided among multiple staff
members, for example, the business manager, administrative assistant and head cook,
you will still have to designate one person as the director. USDA has stated that the
director is:
o The staff person hired to perform the majority of director duties or the staff person
who is performing the majority of the director duties.
Enrollment Size Categories
Size Category
Total Enrollment*
Small
Enrollment of less than 2,499.
Medium
Enrollment range from 2,500 to 9,999.
Large
Enrollments of 10,000 or greater.
*Use the reported October enrollment numbers to establish your SFA’s enrollment. Do not
include enrollment numbers from SFA sites that do not participate in the School Nutrition
Program.
Small SFA: Education and Experience Requirements
Eligible candidates for the director position at a small SFA must have one of the following
qualifications:
• A Bachelor's degree, or equivalent educational experience, with an academic major in a
specific area.**
• A Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent educational experience, with any academic major or
area of concentration, and either a School Nutrition Association (SNA) Level 3
Certification or at least one year of relevant school nutrition experience.
• An Associate’s degree or equivalent educational experience, with an academic major in
a specific area** and one year of relevant school nutrition experience.
• A high school diploma (or GED) and a minimum of three years of relevant school
nutrition experience.
Note: School nutrition sponsors with less than 500 students that have difficulty finding
candidates meeting the experience requirements may be able to hire a new director with less
school nutrition experience than required. Contact the Minnesota Department of Education
(MDE) Food and Nutrition Service if your program faces this situation.
Medium SFA: Education and Experience Requirements
Eligible candidates for the director position at a medium SFA must have one of the following
qualifications:
• A Bachelor's degree, or equivalent educational experience, with an academic major in a
specific area.**
• A Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent educational experience, with any academic major or
area of concentration, and a SNA Level 3 Certification.
• A Bachelor’s degree in any academic major and at least two years of relevant school
nutrition experience.
• An Associate’s degree, or equivalent educational experience, with an academic major in
a specific area** and at least two years of relevant school nutrition experience.
Large SFA: Education and Experience Requirements
Eligible candidates for the director position at a large SFA must have one of the following
qualifications:
• A Bachelor's degree, or equivalent educational experience, with an academic major in a
specific area.**
• A Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent educational experience, with any academic major or
area of concentration, and a SNA Level 3 Certification.
• Any Bachelor’s degree in any major and at least five years of experience in management
of School Nutrition Programs.
**Specific academic majors include: Food and Nutrition, Food Service Management, Dietetics,
Family and Consumer Science, Nutrition Education, Culinary Arts and Business.
Food Safety Training

Food safety training is required for all new food service directors.

Training must be completed within 30 days of hire.

Food safety training taken five years prior to hiring can be used to meet this requirement.

This eight-hour training requirement is in addition to the annual continuing education
hours required by the Professional Standards rule.
Special Circumstances

Current directors will be grandfathered in and current directors moving districts within the
same enrollment size category are exempt.

New directors whose positions were advertised prior to July 1, 2015, are exempt.

If a new director will oversee multiple districts, the standards to the total enrollment of all
districts they oversee applies.
Suggested Documents to Review for New Hires
• College transcripts
• Education information
• Resumes
• Documentation of food safety training, if completed within the past five years
• SNA Level 3 Certification documentation, if applicable
• Other documentation that demonstrate the applicant meets the hiring standards
Resources
For more information related to the USDA Professional Standards for All School Nutrition
Program Employees, access the USDA professional standards webpage.