B-9. School Study Notification E-Letter

APPENDIX B. 9 SCHOOL STUDY NOTIFICATION E-LETTER

OMB Number: 0584-NEW

Expiration Date: XX/XX/XXXX

Dear [SCHOOL FOOD MANAGER NAME],

By now, you should have received notice from your [SFA NAME], that [SCHOOL NAME] is one of 30 schools from [STATE] selected to participate in the Evaluation of the School Meal Data Collection Process (“School Meal Forms Study”). The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has contracted with Westat to help conduct the study. As part of the study, we would like to conduct an in-person interview with you to understand how you and your staff collect and report meal count and participation data for the meal programs.

Participation in this study is voluntary. Be assured that there will be no penalties if you decide not to respond, either to the information collection as a whole or to any particular questions. The information you provide will be kept private and will not be maintained or disclosed in identifiable form to anyone outside the research team or except as otherwise required by law.

The School Meal Forms Study is a research study, not an audit. The thoughts and opinions that you share during our discussion will be kept private. Your name will not be linked to any of your responses; in our reports, we may include quotes from our respondents, but these will be presented without the speaker’s name and in such a way that you could not be identified by the reader. No information collected will affect meal reimbursements or meal program benefits for any participating State agency, School Food Authority, school, or household.

Next Steps

A member of the Westat research team will contact you within the next few days to follow up with to confirm that you received this information packet, answer any questions you may have about the study and your participation, and confirm your participation.

The enclosed Frequently Asked Questions document provides answers to general questions about this study, but please feel free to contact the Project Director, Allison Roeser at [study phone number] or via email at [study email address] if you have any questions.

Thank you in advance for your help and cooperation.

Sincerely,

[SIGNATURE]

Placeholder

Attachment:

1. Frequently Asked Questions document

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-NEW. The time required for the School Food Manager to provide this information collection is estimated to average 10 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather and maintain the data needed, and complete and review the collection of information.

1