2023 National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Equipment Assistance Grant Application
2023 NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant
The Indiana Department of Education’s (IDOE’s) Office of School and Community Nutrition is pleased to announce that Indiana has received $616,387 from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to award Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Equipment Assistance Grants. The maximum amount of the grant awarded to a school food authority (SFA) grant will be $30,000 and limited to three pieces of equipment. This opportunity is provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, (Public Law 117-328), and is open to SFAs participating in the NSLP. Funds will be distributed through a competitive grant process. Applications will be accepted through Friday, May 31.
Eligibility
Eligibility is open to any SFA eligible to receive a grant award. Public school districts, non-public schools, and Residential Child Care Institutions (RCCI) are eligible to apply if they participate in the NSLP. Schools with the highest demonstrated needs, based on free and reduced percentages, and schools who have not previously received a federal equipment grant will be given the highest priority.
Equipment
Equipment is defined as tangible, nonexpendable personal property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $1,000 or more per unit. The purchase of equipment not included in the approved project budget is allowable only if it is specifically approved beforehand by IDOE and there is documentation to support that the purchase is reasonable and necessary for project activities.
Equipment records must be maintained that include the description of the equipment, the serial number or other identification number, the source of funding for the equipment including the Federal Award Identification Number (FAIN), the title holder, the acquisition date, the percentage of federal participation in the project costs for the federal award under which the equipment was acquired, the location, use, and condition of the equipment, and any ultimate disposition data including the date of disposal and the sale price of the equipment. A physical inventory of the equipment must be taken, and the results reconciled with the equipment records every two years or at the grant close out, based on which of these occurs first. A Tangible Personal Property Report, SF-428, 428B, and 428S, must be submitted at award close-out to report the status of the equipment. The Recipient will follow IDOE’s equipment disposition guidance and procedures as defined in 2 CFR 200.312.
Funding
Each SFA may request up to three pieces of equipment.
- Equipment may be requested for more than one school within the same SFA
- A centralized kitchen which services multiple schools may request equipment. Centralized kitchens that service schools that have already received a previous USDA or American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) equipment grant will have a lower priority.
- A school may request to buy a piece of equipment in part with their own funding. If other funding is available, please include this information on the application.
- When acquiring replacement equipment, the SFA may use the equipment to be replaced as a trade-in, or sell the property and use the proceeds to offset the cost of the replacement property.
Repair cost, including parts and labor for capital equipment, is allowed under this grant.
- Installation cost(s) are allowed under this grant.
- SFAs will receive funds for approved equipment as a reimbursement using the “cash claim” request form accompanied by a copy of the paid invoice.
Selection Criteria
To make the most effective use of the NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant funds, applications should include the following:
- Age of food service equipment or lack of appropriate items
- Ability of food service equipment to increase the efficiency of SFA procurement, food storage, and distribution/service
- The availability of existing state and local funding for equipment purchases
- Strategies for adopting lunchroom changes that provide more convenience and appeal to student
Opportunities to realize meaningful impacts on nutrition and quality of meals
- The availability of existing state and local funding for equipment purchases
- Lend itself to improving quality and nutritional content of school food service meals (replacing fryers with combination steamer-ovens)
- Assist in improving participation by meeting Smarter Lunchroom goals (lunchroom changes that provide more convenience and appeal to the student population, highlighting healthier choices, redesigning menus that target healthier entrees, or expansion of the School Breakfast Program)
- Improves the overall energy efficiency of the school food service operations
- Equipment that enables Indiana schools to use locally grown foods
We will also conduct a review of food service operating balances to ensure that districts selected do not have excess funds (defined as over three months average operating expenses) that could fund the new equipment purchases. In general, the equipment should promote the goals of encouraging the consumption of healthy meals, meeting the approved meal pattern requirements, safely storing and preparing food, and improving energy efficiency. Preference will be given to individual schools and corporations that have not previously received equipment grants. The maximum individual grant will be $30,000. Applications will be accepted from Wednesday, May 1, through Friday, May 31, with the announcement of awards by July 2024.
Schools that have submitted grant applications in the past, but have not been awarded funds, should consider reapplying.
Procurement
Equipment purchase must follow all federal, state, and local procurement laws. Keep in mind, equipment requests may include new equipment, renovation of equipment, or replacement of equipment. Regulations in 2 CFR Part 200.33 define equipment as tangible personal property having a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization level established by the non-federal entity for financial statement purposes, or $5,000. For FY 2022, the value of equipment needs to be greater than $1,000, and the desired equipment must be needed to serve healthier meals, improve food safety, and to help support the establishment, maintenance, or expansion of the School Breakfast Program.
As with all federal grant funds, procurement regulations in 7 CFR Part 210.21 and 2 CFR Part 200.317-326 apply, and equipment competitively procured using these grant funds must be necessary, reasonable, and allocable. For example, while using these grant funds to purchase a walk-in freezer for school food service, or a salad bar may be an allowable cost, building an extension to a cafeteria would not meet the intended purposes of this grant.
Federal regulations require schools receiving federal school nutrition funds to follow certain rules for procurement. The regulations can be found in 2 CFR Part 200 (specifically 200.318 – 200.326). There are different requirements for large purchases ($150,000 and over) and small purchases (under $150,000), and the regulations must be followed for any purchases made using child nutrition funds. Any equipment purchases exceeding $5,000 must be approved by the state prior to making the purchase. There are also requirements that school food service departments have a written procurement plan on file outlining federal and any local requirements.
- Small Purchase: When using the small purchase procedure three bids are required.
- Micro-Purchase: Equipment purchased with a value less than $10,000.
- A specification is a list of features the recipient is requesting in a piece of equipment. It is NOT a manufacturer’s product sheet that lists all the options available.
- The recipient may only incur allowable costs during the period of performance. Anything purchased before the contract is fully executed is at the risk of the sponsor.
- Bids are generally only valid for a specified length of time. Part of the specification should ask that the bids be valid for six months or longer.
- Federal regulations prohibit the selections of vendors based solely on the basis that they are local vendors. Refer to 2 C.F.R. Part 200.319 (7b).
Buy America Preference in Federal Financial Assistance Programs for Infrastructure
A) In accordance with Build America, Buy America Act, Pub. L. No. 117-58, §§ 70901-52. Section 70914; recipients of an award of Federal financial assistance from a program[1] for infrastructure are hereby notified that none of the funds provided under this award may be used for a project for infrastructure unless:
1) All iron and steel used in the project are produced in the United States--this means all manufacturing processes, from the initial melting stage through the application of coatings, occurred in the United States;
2) All manufactured products used in the project are produced in the United States—this means the manufactured product was manufactured in the United States; and the cost of the components of the manufactured product that are mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States is greater than 55 percent of the total cost of all components of the manufactured product, unless another standard for determining the minimum amount of domestic content of the manufactured product has been established under applicable law or regulation; and
3) All construction materials are manufactured in the United States—this means that all manufacturing processes for the construction material occurred in the United States.
The Buy America preference only applies to articles, materials, and supplies that are consumed in, incorporated into, or affixed to an infrastructure project. (See definitions below) As such, it does not apply to tools, equipment, and supplies, such as temporary scaffolding, brought to the construction site and removed at or before the completion of the infrastructure project. Nor does a Buy America preference apply to equipment and furnishings, such as movable chairs, desks, and portable computer equipment, that are used at or within the finished infrastructure project but are not an integral part of the structure or permanently affixed to the infrastructure project.
B) Compliance
1) All grant recipients and sub-recipients are responsible for documenting compliance with the Buy American Preference requirements set forth above. Grant recipients and sub-recipients may utilize documentation such as product labels indicating country of origin, statements from manufacturers, vendors or suppliers certifying that items being sold/purchased meet the Buy American Preference for Infrastructure requirements, and/or any other type of documentation that would demonstrate compliance.
2) Prior to any entering any procurement transactions related to the grant award, grant recipients and sub-recipients must obtain the appropriate certification of compliance from their contractors, manufacturers, vendors, or suppliers. If this certification cannot be obtained, a waiver request must be pursued using the process outlined below.
3) Applicable infrastructure costs that are unable to be certified as compliant with the Buy American Preference requirements for Infrastructure and have no approved FNS waiver may be disallowed by the awarding agency.
C) Reporting Requirements
1) Please note, there are no specific reporting requirements related to the Buy America Preference in Federal Financial Assistance Programs for Infrastructure conditions listed in this section. However, in accordance with 2 CFR 200.334; Retention Requirements for Records, all related records must be maintained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or audit and the Grantee will be required to provide this information to FNS within 30 days of request.
D) Definitions
1) “Construction materials” includes an article, material, or supply—other than an item of primarily iron or steel; a manufactured product; cement and cementitious materials; excluding aggregates such as stone, sand, or gravel; or aggregate binding agents or additives—that is or consists primarily of:
- non-ferrous metals;
- plastic and polymer-based products (including polyvinylchloride,
- composite building materials, and polymers used in fiber optic cables);
- glass (including optic glass);
- lumber; or
- drywall.
2) “Domestic content procurement preference’’ means all iron and steel used in the project are produced in the United States; the manufactured products used in the project are produced in the United States; or the construction materials used in the project are produced in the United States.
3) “Infrastructure” includes, at a minimum, the structures, facilities, and equipment for, in the United States, roads, highways, and bridges; public transportation; dams, ports, harbors, and other maritime facilities; intercity passenger and freight railroads; freight and intermodal facilities; airports; water systems, including drinking water and wastewater systems; electrical transmission facilities and systems; utilities; broadband infrastructure; and buildings and real property. Infrastructure includes facilities that generate, transport, and distribute energy.
4) ‘‘Project’’ means the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of infrastructure in the United States.
[1] Federal financial assistance program for infrastructure includes any program under which an award may be issued for an infrastructure project, regardless of whether infrastructure is the primary purpose of the award. Refer to definitions in section (B) for more information.
Awards
If selected to receive an equipment grant, a notification of federal grant subaward will be sent via email to your school/district by July 2024. A quote verifying the amount of the specific equipment requested will need to be submitted along with documentation that will be provided. We will then send a contract to your Superintendent for review and electronic signature.Please note, this process can take up to 60 days or longer. SFAs must complete their procurement and expenditure activities by the end of federal FY 2024 (September 30, 2025).
Criteria for the Award of the Grants
Each application will be evaluated on the following criteria:
- Application completed in its entirety.
- Schools with the highest demonstrated need based on free and reduced percentages will be given the highest priority. Grants will be awarded first to schools in which at least 50 percent of the students are eligible for free and reduced-price meals.
- Schools who have previously received a Federal Equipment Grant will only be considered after all other grant applications have been awarded.
- How the school plans to use the equipment will help meet the multiple funding goals above. Applicants that demonstrate that the equipment will help to meet multiple funding goals will receive a higher score.
- Age of current food service equipment or current lack of appropriate equipment.
- The ability of the school to purchase the equipment and submit the reimbursement request during the required timeframe.
- Applicants that demonstrate they have obtained multiple bids for the equipment (instead of using the micro-purchase method) will receive a higher score, as this shows the applicant will obtain the best possible price for the item.
For More Information
Please refer to IDOE’s School Nutrition Programs webpage for the most up-to-date information, including USDA guidance memos, School Nutrition team memorandums, resources to assist in deciding what pieces of equipment to purchase, and assistance in writing the equipment specification.
Contact SCNFinance@doe.in.gov with questions regarding this funding opportunity Please include “Sponsor Number/Equipment Grant” in the subject line.
SFAs that are awarded an FY 2023 Equipment Assistance Grant must comply with the following regulations, principles, and assurances:
Government-Wide Regulations:
- 2 CFR Part 25: “Universal identifier and System for Award Management”
- 2 CFR Part 170: “Reporting Sub-award and Executive Compensation Information”
- 2 CFR Part 175: “Award Term for Trafficking in Persons”
- 2 CFR Part 180: “OMB Guidelines to Agencies on Government-wide Debarment and Suspension (Non-Procurement)”
- 2 CFR Part 200: “Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards”
- 2 CFR Part 400: USDA Implementing regulations “Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards”
- 2 CFR Part 415: USDA “General Program Administrative Regulations”
- 2 CFR Part 416: USDA “General Program Administrative Regulations for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments”
- 2 CFR Part 417: USDA “Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension”
- 2 CFR Part 418: USDA “New Restrictions on Lobbying”
- 2 CFR Part 421: USDA “Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Financial Assistance)”
- 41 USC Section 22 “Interest of Member of Congress”
- Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2009, Public Law 110-417
- Sections 738 and 739 of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112-55)
- “The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA), dated September 26, 2006”
Cost Principals:
- 2 CFR, Part 200: Subpart E, Cost Principles
USDA Regulations:
- 7 CFR Part 15: “Nondiscrimination”
- Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Public Access to Federal Financial Assistance records shall not be limited, except when such records must be kept confidential and would have been excepted from disclosure pursuant to the “Freedom of Information” regulation (5 U.S.C. 552)
Assurance of Civil Right Compliance:
- Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d-et seq.), USDA regulations at 7 CFR Part 15, Nondiscrimination, and Department of Justice regulations at 28 CFR Part 42, Nondiscrimination; Equal Employment Opportunity: Policies And Procedures
- Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) and USDA regulations at 7 CFR Part 15a, Education Programs or Activities Receiving or Benefiting from Federal Financial Assistance
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794)
Title II and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 as amended by the ADA Amendment Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 12131-12189)
Executive Order 13166, "Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency." (August 11, 2000)
All provisions required by the implementing regulations of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) (7 CFR Part 15 et seq.)
Department of Justice Enforcement Guidelines (28 CFR Parts 35, 42 and 50.3)
Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) directives and guidelines to the effect that, no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), age, or disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subject to discrimination under any program or activity for which the Program applicant receives Federal financial assistance from USDA; and hereby gives assurance that it will immediately take measures necessary to effectuate this Agreement.
NONDISCRIMINATION STATEMENT
The USDA non-discrimination statement that in accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). This assurance is given in consideration of and for the purpose of obtaining any and all Federal financial assistance, grants, and loans of Federal funds, reimbursable expenditures, grant, or donation of Federal property and interest in property, the detail of Federal personnel, the sale and lease of, and the permission to use Federal property or interest in such property or the furnishing of services without consideration or at a nominal consideration, or at a consideration that is reduced for the purpose of assisting the recipient, or in recognition of the public interest to be served by such sale, lease, or furnishing of services to the recipient, or any improvements made with Federal financial assistance extended to the Program applicant by USDA. This includes any Federal agreement, arrangement, or other contract that has as one of its purposes the provision of cash assistance for the purchase of food, and cash assistance for purchase or rental of food service equipment or any other financial assistance extended in reliance on the representations and agreements made in this assurance. By accepting this assurance, the Grantee agrees to compile data, maintain records, and submit records and reports as required, to permit effective enforcement of nondiscrimination laws and permit authorized USDA personnel during hours of program operation to review and copy such records, books, and accounts, access such facilities and interview such personnel as needed to ascertain compliance with the nondiscrimination laws. If there are any violations of this assurance, the Department of Agriculture, FNS, shall have the right to seek judicial enforcement of this assurance. This assurance is binding on the Grantee, its successors, transferees and assignees as long as it receives assistance or retains possession of any assistance from USDA.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:
(1) Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410
(2) Fax: (202) 690-7442; or
(3) Email: program.intake@usda.gov
This institution is an equal opportunity provider
You can find more information concerning the 2023 Equipment Assistance Grant and Procurement Guidance and Procedures here.