Sixteen Connecticut schools will receive federal grant dollars to upgrade their food service facilities.
The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) received $273,397 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through its National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance grants from fiscal year 2023. For fiscal year 2023, the USDA distributed $10 million to states to award grants to school food authorities to purchase equipment worth more than $1,000 “needed to serve healthier meals, improve food safety, and to help support the establishment, maintenance, or expansion of the School Breakfast Program.”
The CSDE received 36 applications and selected 16 to award grants totaling $270,661.75.
Per federal guidelines, states can consider factors like opportunities to implement updated nutrition requirements, age of food equipment service, and availability of existing state and local funding for equipment purchases when making determinations about how grants should be awarded.
Federal guidelines also do not allow state agencies to use more than five percent of the funds they are awarded to cover administrative costs. In total, Connecticut has received just under $3.5 million in federal funding for school kitchen equipment between 2009 and fiscal year 2024.
The grants awarded by CSDE range from just over $4,5000 for The Bridge Academy Charter School to $25,000 for Tyrrell Middle School in Wolcott. The Department of Correction’s Manson Youth Institute received $23,670.
According to CSDE, grants will be used to “support critical kitchen and meal service upgrades” and will include equipment like steamers, refrigerated display cases, convection ovens, refrigeration, walk-in freezer repairs, and more.
“These upgrades will provide schools with the tools needed to serve fresh, healthy meals efficiently while ensuring food safety standards are maintained. The investment will have a long-term impact on the success of school meal programs and the overall health of Connecticut’s students.” CSDE said via a press release.
The announcement comes as continued funding for Connecticut’s free school meal programs remains in question. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government provided funding for free school meals. While that program ended in 2022, Connecticut has provided funding to extend free school breakfasts and free lunch for qualifying students. Most recently, Gov. Ned Lamont signed a law utilizing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to continue to fund free school meals through fiscal year 2024.
However, whether the legislature will continue to fund the initiative is uncertain. Additionally, some school districts are signalling they will not be able to provide free meals in 2025. The Stamford School District’s finance director said at a recent Board of Education Operating Committee meeting that the district’s current meals program is projected to run a $1 million deficit next year. That sum is likely to be added to the district’s proposed operating budget and would need city approval in order to be adopted.
The deficit is the result of the district’s lunch program, which operates at a loss because reimbursements don’t cover expenses. While federal funds from the COVID-19 era created a large surplus that sustained the program in recent years, that surplus no longer exists.
Was this article helpful?
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
