Dear County Superintendents of Schools:

Apportionment for Kitchen Infrastructure and Training Funds Fiscal Year 2022–23

This apportionment, in the amount of $585 million, 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 designate $15 million in 2022 KIT funds for school commercial dishwasher purchases. Therefore, this apportionment will award $585 million now and the distribution of the remaining $15 million will be determined pending the completion of the 2023 budget process.

This 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.

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

Accordingly, participating eligible LEAs may use KIT funds to purchase, repair, or address infrastructure needs for cooking, service, refrigeration, and storage equipment as well as for purchases, repairs, and infrastructure needs related to transportation of ingredients, meals, and equipment between sites. The 2022 KIT funds may also be used for training food service staff of the awarded LEA. Training topics must focus on promoting nutritious foods, which may include food preparation, healthy food marketing, and changing the school lunchroom environment. Trainings costs need to be reasonable, allocable, and closely connected to the purpose of the funds. Additionally, the 2022 KIT funds may be used to provide additional compensation for additional work relating the serving universal school meals.

LEAs who received additional 2022 KIT funds by attesting that no less than 40 percent of reimbursable NSLP and School Breakfast Program (SBP) meals, including the entrée and grains prepared each week, beginning in the 2023–2024 school year are freshly prepared onsite meals may use those funds to support planning and implementation of facility improvements and equipment upgrades to increase capacity for freshly prepared onsite meal preparation. Note that these funds may not be used to support training or staff time.

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

Funding Amounts

The amount awarded to each LEA is as follows:

• Each eligible LEA is awarded a base funding amount of $100,000.
  
  
• 50 percent of the remaining funds are then awarded proportionately based on the number of total meals served from October 2021.

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

The Program Cost Account is 25672. Amounts paid in this apportionment are listed on the schedule of apportionment posted under the funding tab on the CDE KIT Funds 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 your LEA’s procurement procedures and that promotes full and open competition.
  
  
• Complying with your 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 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. This report will also include information on the food service staff training topics, and number of trainings and attendees. 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 (SACS) 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,

Kim Frinzell, Director
Nutrition Services Division
KF:md