KIT Funds Available for Eligible Program Operators

The California Department of Education (CDE) announces the availability of funding award information for the Kitchen Infrastructure and Training (KIT) Funds.

Payment Details

Payment details are located on the CDE Funding Results web page. Agencies will be issued 100 percent of the funds awarded up front. Your County Treasurer’s Office (CTO) will receive the warrant. From there, the CTO will follow their processes and procedures to award the funds to the participating school food authorities within their county. If you submitted a KIT online registration form prior to the deadline and do not receive a warrant within eight weeks of this announcement, please email KITfunds@cde.ca.gov.

Use of Funds

Funds must be used only for the purposes for which they were awarded. You may not use training funds for kitchen infrastructure efforts, or vice versa.

Kitchen infrastructure and equipment funds can be used for the purpose of kitchen infrastructure upgrades that will increase pupil access to, or improve the quality of, fresh and nutritious school meals, included in the following categories:

Cooking equipment
Service equipment
Refrigeration and storage equipment
Transportation of ingredients, meals, and equipment between sites
Any supporting infrastructure system needs

Food service staff training funds can be used for the purpose of training on promoting nutritious foods, which may include training on food preparation, healthy food marketing, and changing the school lunchroom environment.

Accounting

Though you may only receive one warrant, it is important to note that kitchen infrastructure funds and training funds are awarded separately.

The CDE has created two new standardized account code structure (SACS) resource codes to help you record KIT Funds. Please ensure the revenue is deposited into the agency’s general fund using the resource codes below:

SACS Resource Code 7028: Kitchen infrastructure and equipment
SACS Resource Code 7029: Food service staff training

Revenue Object Code: 8520

Both resource codes are now available in the SACS tables of valid code combinations. If you have questions about the accounting for these funds using the new resource codes, please contact the School Fiscal Services Division at SACSINFO@cde.ca.gov.

Reporting Use of Funds

As a condition of accepting these funds, program operators must report their use of KIT Funds to the CDE. To fulfill this requirement, participating program operators must complete a short, online survey which will be emailed no later than April 2023, and is due by June 30, 2023.

Returning Funds to the CDE

If you are no longer participating in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, or if you choose not to spend all or some of the KIT Funds, please email the KIT Funds Team at KITfunds@cde.ca.gov.

Warrants may be mailed to:

NSD Kitchen Infrastructure and Training Funds
c/o Cashier’s Office
California Department of Education
P.O. Box 515006
Sacramento, CA 95851-5006