Hiring Requirements and Qualifications of School Food Authority Directors Changed in Some Districts After Implementation of US Department of Agriculture Professional Standards.

Background: In 2015, the US Department of Agriculture set minimum education and training requirements (ie, professional standards) to ensure that school nutrition professionals have the knowledge and experience to operate school meal programs. No study to date has examined whether hiring requirements and qualifications of school food authority (SFA) directors have changed since 2015.

Objective: To assess changes in hiring requirements and qualifications of SFA directors since the US Department of Agriculture professional standards were established, overall and by district size.