2024 National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance Grant

The intent of the grant is to provide funding for SFAs to purchase food service equipment to serve healthier meals that meet meal pattern requirements, replace outdated or worn equipment, improve procurement of goods, improve food safety, improve the lunchroom to be more appealing to the students, help support the maintenance of an existing kitchen or serving line, or establish a new school kitchen or School Nutrition Program.

Background Information Since 2010, the USDA has allocated funding for the CDE to competitively award eligible SFAs Equipment Assistance Grants (EAG). The funding is not a guarantee, and the CDE will send notice to eligible school food authorities (SFA) each year the funding is made available. It gives priority to those SFAs that have not received other state funding for equipment purchases and sites that have not received an Equipment Assistance Grant in the last five years. The funding will also help to support SFAs that did not receive infrastructure funds from the 2021 or 2022 Kitchen Infrastructure and Training allocation. In May 2024, the Consolidated Appropriations Act authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund California approximately $1.04 million to competitively award eligible school food authorities with EAGs.  Grant Application Package and Deadline The grant application package and instructions for the EAG are available on the CDE EAG Request for Applications web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r9/snpequip24rfa.asp. Please note that SFAs must complete the grant application online. The online application deadline is 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 10, 2024, at which time the CDE will no longer accept applications. The CDE must receive completed EAG applications before the deadline for each grant cycle. The CDE will only accept online applications. When the EAG is announced, the online application will be available on the EAG web page under the applications tab. Priority and Scope The California Department of Education (CDE) will award competitive grants of up to $100,000 per SFA. Each SFA may apply for no more than five sites. The NSD will give priority to those SFAs that have not received an EAG since 2020. The NSD will also give priority to those SFAs that can explicitly document how the equipment purchased will reflect the intent of the grant with specific emphasis on impacting nutrition quality, serving healthier meals, and meeting nutritional standards as well as how the SFA will sustain these improvements in the years to come. Equipment requests may include new or renovated equipment. For purposes of this grant, the CDE may award equipment with a per unit cost of $1,000 or more. Procurement Requirements Federal procurement regulations located in Title 2, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 200, and 7 CFR, Part 210.21, apply to this grant. The SFA is responsible for ensuring that their procurement and contracts comply with all applicable laws, regulations, program instructions, and guidance materials, which SFA officials should review carefully and understand. The SFA should consult with their own legal counsel regarding any proposed procurement methods or contract language. Contact Information For more information about the EAG please visit the California Department of Education (CDE) Equipment Grant web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/sn/eag.asp. If you have any questions or need assistance regarding applying for the 2024 NSLP EAG, please contact the EAG team by email at equipmentgrant@cde.ca.gov.