Prekindergarten through Grade 12 Education

Announcement of Funding Opportunity
RFP #GC23-010

FY 2022 National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance Grant for School Food Authorities

Grant Application Documents

Purpose of Grant

The School Food Service Equipment Grant is intended to improve the infrastructure of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). This will be achieved by providing the opportunity for schools to purchase equipment to serve healthier meals, improve the overall quality of meals, improve food safety, expand participation in school meals programs, and help to support the establishment, maintenance, or expansion of the School Breakfast Program.

Eligible Applicants

All Recipient Agencies (RAs) under a School Food Authority (SFA) participating in the NSLP in New York State (NYS) are eligible (including public school districts, non-profit nonpublic schools, charter schools and residential childcare institutions).

The SFA will apply on behalf of their eligible RAs. Unless otherwise exempt, as detailed in this RFP, the SFA will submit a separate application for each piece of requested equipment for an eligible RA.

Priority will be given to RAs that did not receive a previous grant award through the Fiscal Year (FY) FY 2019, FY 2020, or the FY 2021 National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance Grant for School Food Authorities.

A list of RAs that previously received an equipment grant is available at: SFAs Previously Awarded an Equipment Grant

Mandatory Requirements

Equipment Assistance Grant Applications will only be considered if the following Mandatory Application Requirements are met:

• Non-public and charter school SFA applicants are prequalified in the Grants Gateway by the application deadline of 5:00 p.m. on March 31, 2023. Additional information is provided in the Prequalification for Individual Applicants section below.
• Applications are submitted by an eligible SFA applicant that is currently approved to participate in the NSLP or that receives formal approval from the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to operate the NSLP by the application deadline.
• Applications request equipment that is allowable under this RFP with a value greater than $1,000.
• All applications for non-public school RAs include a current Certificate of Occupancy or other documentation from the local government authority having jurisdiction for determining compliance with applicable building codes of NYS and current building fire inspection that indicates no violations from the local government authority having jurisdiction for determining compliance with applicable fire codes of NYS for the RA building in which the equipment will be placed. (See Mandatory Requirements for Non-public Schools section of RFP for details.)
• Applications must be submitted to the SharePoint submission website by the application deadline. Please see the “FY22 SharePoint Instructions” document posted with the RFP.

Funding and Project Dates

• Funds Available: $4,786,638
• Project Dates: 7/1/2023-6/30/2024
• All procurement and expenditure activities must be completed no later than 6/30/2024.
• Grant Amounts: A value greater than $1,000 up to a maximum of $20,000. Unless otherwise exempt, as detailed in this RFP, separate applications must be submitted for each piece of requested equipment. Total combined awards to an SFA for an individual RA cannot exceed $20,000.

Due Date

Fully completed applications including all required pieces must be uploaded into the SharePoint site by 5:00 p.m. on March 31, 2023.

Submission process: A SharePoint site for submissions has been created for the RFP# GC23-010 FY22 National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance Grant Application for School Food Authorities. Permission to access the SharePoint site for uploading applications is granted by the NYSED Child Nutrition Office. All food service directors, business officials and Child Nutrition Fiscal Contacts entered in the Child Nutrition Management System (CNMS) will be sent an email invitation to gain access to the SharePoint website. Please allow 24-48 hours from the posting of the RFP to receive this email invitation.

Potential applicants that did not receive the invitation email should request an invitation via foodequip@nysed.gov. The email request must contain the SFA name, SFA LEA code, the individual’s name, title, and email that wishes to be granted access to the SharePoint site.

Invitation requests for SharePoint will be accepted and approved until 4:00 pm March 31, 2023. Requests to access SharePoint after this time will not be granted. It is recommended that the SFA administration designate only one duly authorized user to upload all submissions for the SFA. The SharePoint site exists only to upload completed applications and is not used to complete the application itself.

Questions and Answers

Non-Mandatory Notice of Intent

The Notice of Intent (NOI) is not a requirement for submitting a complete application by the application date; however, NYSED strongly encourages all prospective applicants to submit an NOI to ensure a timely and thorough review and rating process. An NOI submitted for non-public and charter school SFAs will also help to facilitate timely review of their prequalification materials. The notice of intent is a simple email notice stating your SFA’s intent to submit an application for this grant. Please include your SFA LEA code and NYS Vendor ID number. The NOI due date is March 17, 2023. Please send the NOI to foodequip@nysed.gov.

Contacts