For School Year (SY) 2024–25, the California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division (NSD) is able to continue to suspend the Food Distribution Program (FDP) administrative fee of $0.90 per case or case equivalent for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foods for participating school food authorities (SFAs).
The chart below provides a comparison of the standard program fees to the SY 2024–25 reduced or suspended rates.
For schools who receive USDA Foods from the CDE’s distribution centers, the $0.90 administrative fee suspension is applied to the standard delivery fee and the standard pick-up fee, which reduces those rates for SY 2024–25 from $2.85 to $1.95 and from $2.40 to $1.50, respectively. The Department of Defense (DoD) Fresh and the Unprocessed Fruit and Vegetable Pilot program administrative fees are not included in this temporary suspension.
The fee schedule for SY 2024–25 is as follows:
| Program Fee | Standard Fee | Temporary Fee
SY 2024–25 |
|---|---|---|
Administrative Fee for Bulk and Direct Delivery USDA Foods sent to processors, distributors, or direct to SFAs (per case or case equivalent) |
$0.90 | $0.00 |
USDA Foods delivered by the State Distribution Centers (SDCs) (delivery rate includes the Administrative Fee) |
$2.85 | $1.95 |
USDA Foods picked up from the SDCs (pick-up rate includes the Administrative Fee) |
$2.40 | $1.50 |
| Department of Defense (DoD) Fresh Produce (Administrative Fee) | $0.15 | $0.15 |
| Unprocessed Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Produce (Administrative Fee) | $0.15 | $0.15 |
These reductions are temporary; SFAs are encouraged to budget for these costs for future school years. For additional information on the standard fees for FDP, please refer to Management Bulletin FDP-03-2017 “New Program Fees for Agencies Receiving U.S. Department of Agriculture Foods” dated September 2017.
If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact Amy Bell, Child Nutrition Consultant, by phone at 916-322-5051 or by email at abell@cde.ca.gov, or Sherry Tam, Child Nutrition Consultant, by phone at 916-324-9875 or by email at stam@cde.ca.gov.