Summary
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is an extension, without change, of a currently approved collection for assisting state agencies and school nutrition professionals in searching for trainings, recording, tracking, and managing the required training hours for state and local school district nutrition professionals, in four major areas (nutrition, operations, administration, and communications and marketing), to meet the requirements of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 Professional Standards Rule.
Request for Comments
Written comments must be received on or before June 1, 2026.
Comments may be sent to the Nutrition and Technical Assistance Branch, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 4th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314. Comments may also be submitted to the attention of the Nutrition and Technical Assistance Branch via email to cnpntab@usda.gov. Comments will also be accepted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to Regulations.gov, and follow the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval. All comments will be a matter of public record.
Abstract
The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 (Section 306) requires Professional Standards for state and local school district nutrition professionals. In addition to hiring standards, mandatory annual training is required for all individuals involved in preparing school meals. To meet the training requirements and assist in locating and keeping track of training, USDA's FNS provides a web-based application tool with a Structured Query Language (SQL)-server database, which is available for employees of state agencies, local educational agencies, and school food authorities through the FNS public website, as a guest user or with Login.gov. While training requirements are mandatory, using the USDA Professional Standards Trainings and Tracker Tool (PSTTT) is voluntary. The tool facilitates compliance with HHFKA requirements and is provided at no cost. In addition, FNS provides a mobile-friendly version of the PSTTT application to ensure easy usage and accessibility across mobile devices. The application is compatible with all mobile operating systems (iOS, Android, and Windows).
The user can create a user profile with the following information:
- School District/Address
- School Name/Address
- Individual's Name
- Email Address
- Job Title and Role
- Hiring Date
The user will enter the following information:
- Key Area
- Training Topic
- Learning Objective
- Training Title
- Training Hours/Minutes
- Date of Training
- Training Provider or Organization (including State, local or national)
The user can enter multiple employee names for one specific training. Users can print certificates of completion for trainings. The tool provides the user with the ability to export and save results in multiple file formats, including portable document format (.pdf), Microsoft Excel (.xlsx), and Word Files versions 2000 or higher (.docx). Streamlined and intuitive navigation is offered to allow for easy access to all functionalities. In July 2025, the PSTTT integrated the former Professional Standards Training Database into the PSTTT, allowing for guest user access to search for relevant professional standards trainings to take in addition to logging completed trainings—this resulted in renaming the tool from the “Professional Standards Training Tracker Tool” to the “Professional Standards Trainings and Tracker Tool” to more accurately reflect the PSTTT's capabilities. In this notice, the previous requirements listed as “state agency personnel” and “school nutrition professionals” has been clarified to include the estimated burden encompasses the time users are expected to spend using the tool (e.g., searching and logging trainings).