Dear County Superintendents of Schools:

Apportionment for Kitchen Infrastructure and Training Funds Fiscal Year 2023–24

This apportionment, in the amount of $15,152,936, is made from the California General Funds to the California Department of Education (CDE) for awards to eligible local educational agencies (LEAs) that registered their interest for 2022 Kitchen Infrastructure and Training (KIT) Funds by December 9, 2022. This grant is made possible by the Budget Act of 2022, Section 132, Chapter 52, as codified by Assembly Bill 181, Education finance: education omnibus trailer bill, which awarded a total of $600 million.

In January 2023, the Governor's proposed budget included an amendment to Section 132 of Chapter 52 of the Statutes of 2022 to designate $15 million in 2022 KIT funds for the purposes of a competitive grant for school commercial dishwasher purchases. The final 2023 state budget did fund the competitive commercial dishwasher grants; however, KIT funding was not used to support this effort. As a result, this apportionment will distribute the residual $15 million in available KIT funds as well as $152,936 that LEAs have returned since the initial award.

The $15,152,936 will be apportioned only to those LEAs that committed to providing freshly prepared onsite meals, as this was the portion of funding from which the initial $15 million was set aside. It is also the funding source of the $152,936 in funding that was returned.

The legislation defined eligible LEAs as public school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools approved to operate the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or School Breakfast Program (SBP).

Purpose of Funds

The purpose of the KIT funds is to increase pupil access to, or improve the quality of, fresh and nutritious school meals. LEAs should consider how these funds can be used to support the implementation of the Universal Meals Program.

Allowable Expenditures

These funds may be used to support planning and implementation of facility improvements and equipment upgrades to increase capacity for freshly prepared onsite meal preparation. Specifically, these funds may be used to purchase, repair, or address infrastructure needs for cooking, meal service, refrigeration, and storage equipment as well as for purchases, repairs, and infrastructure needs related to transportation of ingredients, meals, and equipment between sites. These funds may also be used to support training and additional compensation for additional work relating to serving universal meals.

The needs of all sites under the LEA awarded should be considered when determining how funds will be expended.

Funding Amounts

The amounts awarded in this residual allocation are awarded proportionately based on the total meals served from October 2021 and only to agencies that attest that at least 40 percent of their NSLP and SBP meals prepared weekly will be freshly prepared onsite starting in the 2023–24 school year.

The Program Cost Account is 25672. Amounts paid in this apportionment are listed on the schedule of apportionment posted on the CDE KIT Funding Results web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r9/kitfund22result.asp

Procurement Guidelines

These funds are state General Fund monies. At minimum, LEAs must follow all applicable procurement processes and guidelines, which may include, but are not limited to:

• Conducting procurements in a manner that is compliant with the LEA’s procurement procedures and that promotes full and open competition.
• Complying with the respective LEA’s written standard (or code) of conduct that covers conflicts of interest, including organizational conflicts of interest, and governs the performance of employees engaged in the selection, award, and administration of contracts and purchases.
• Maintaining records sufficient to detail the history of the procurement. These records will include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following: rationale for the method of procurement, selection of contract type, contractor selection or rejection, and the basis for the contract price.
• Maintaining all vendor invoices and receipts.
  

Reporting

LEAs are advised to retain all supporting documentation that demonstrates how these funds were expended.

As a condition of accepting these funds, LEAs must commit to completing a mandatory expenditure report. This report will include details on how the funds were used to improve the quality of school meals or increase participation. The CDE anticipates that this report will be submitted in the form of an online survey. This survey will be available by May 2025 and will be due June 30, 2025

Project Period

The project period for the 2022 KIT funds for LEAs is July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2025. Funds may be used for allowable expenses incurred prior to award up to and including the day this funding was approved July 1, 2022.

Questions and More Information

Warrants will be mailed to each county treasurer. For standardized account code structure coding, use:

• Resource Code 7032 for Kitchen Infrastructure, Equipment, and Training
• Revenue Object Code 8520 for Child Nutrition

County superintendents and LEAs were notified of this apportionment by email. Links to this letter and the accompanying apportionment schedule are posted on the CDE KIT Funds Results web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r9/kitfund22result.asp

For more information on these funds, visit the CDE KIT Funds web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/kitfunds.asp. If you have any questions regarding 2022 KIT funds, this apportionment, or the allocation amounts, contact us by email at KITfunds@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

/s/

Sarah Neville-Morgan, Deputy Superintendent
Opportunities for All Branch
SNM:mc