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Request for Applications
National School Lunch Program
Fiscal Year 2017 Agriculture Appropriations Act
A prime opportunity for schools to obtain or replace equipment is provided by the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Agriculture Appropriations Act. If you are in need of funding to purchase equipment to serve healthier meals that meet the updated meal patterns, with emphasis on more fruits and vegetables in school meals, improve food safety, and expand access. Priority must be given to schools with 50% or more eligible free/reduced price meals. In addition, SAs must give priority to schools that did not receive a previous NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant award under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the FY 2010 and Agriculture Appropriations Acts FY 2013, FY 2014, FY 2015 and FY 2016.
Eligibility Requirements
$55,502.80 is available in South Dakota.
· Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis
· SFAs must participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
· Any participating SFA may apply, but the awards will be granted in the following order based on the priority areas:
1st: to those sites with 50% or more eligible free/reduced price meals based on October 2016 data and have not previously received an equipment grant.
2nd: to those sites with 50% or more free/reduced price meals and who have previously been awarded an equipment grant.
3rd: to those sites with less than 50% of students eligible for free/reduced priced meals.
· Only one application per SFA will be accepted. If equipment is being requested at multiple sites, the SFA must fill out pages 4 & 5 for each site.
· SFAs should be prepared to obligate their grant funds by June 30, 2018, if there are concerns with this time frame please contact the CANS office.
· SFAs will be required to follow all Federal competitive procurement requirements, and State and Local procurement laws when they are more restrictive than Federal requirements when purchasing equipment under these grants. It is recommended that you check with your business manager or your local school board for local procedures.
· The minimum amount of the grant must be $5,000 (or such lesser amount as the SFA uses when reporting equipment as assets in its financial statements). An application may request multiple pieces of equipment, but each piece needs to be at least $5,000 or meet the capitalization threshold. Each piece per building must meet the $5,000. Several small pieces cannot be added together to reach that requirement. If the SFA’s equipment capitalization threshold is under $5,000, the SFA must provide a copy of its capitalization policy. Please consult with your business official.
· Obligations made prior to grant award will not be considered for payment.
Notice: Due to the limited amount of funds available for the 2017 NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant a cap will be set at $15,000 per application. The piece of equipment can cost more than that, but the maximum an SFA can apply for is $15,000. This will increase the potential to distribute the funds and increase the possibility of an SFA receiving at least a portion of the limited funds. An SFA may submit an application for more than one building, but only one piece of equipment per building is allowed.
Focus Areas
Grants will be awarded in a competitive process to SFAs, priority will be given to high need schools where 50 percent or more of the enrolled students are eligible for free or reduced price meals. Community Eligibility Provision Schools are eligible to apply. Consideration for high needs designation is based on:
· schools in underserved areas (rural areas or remote communities)
· schools with limited access to other resources
· school’s age of food service equipment
In addition, SFAs must give priority to schools that did not receive a previous NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant award under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and FY 2010 and the Agriculture Appropriations Acts FY 2013, FY 2014, FY 2015, and FY 2016.
Equipment purchases must fall into at least one of the focus areas listed below. Focus areas include:
1. Opportunities to realize a meaningful impact on nutrition and quality of meals (e.g., replacing fryers with combination steamer-ovens)
2. Strategies for adopting Smarter Lunchrooms (highlight healthier choices, redesigned menus, provide more convenience and appeal to student)
3. Availability of existing State and local funding for equipment purchases
4. Age of food service equipment
Additional focus areas may include:
· Equipment that improves the safety of food service in the school meal program
· Equipment that improves overall energy efficiency of school food service operation
· Equipment used to improve or expand participation in NSLP or SBP
Selection Criterion
Applications will be scored based on the following criterion
· Equipment request meets at least one of the four focus areas by identifying how the equipment will contribute to the enhancement of the quality of meal service and/or foodservice.
· The application must be complete and clearly and concisely explain why the SFA needs the equipment and why the equipment is appropriate for the site.
· The application reflects consideration for all costs associated with purchase and installation, and provides a timeline for the funds to be expended within eight months.
o Acquisition Cost including:
§ Cost to put in place: i.e. plumbing, wiring, etc.
§ Net invoice price of equipment including:
· Cost of any modification, attachments, accessories, or auxiliary apparatus necessary to make it usable for the purpose for which it is acquired.
o Ancillary Charges including:
§ Taxes, duty, protective in transit insurance, freight, disposal of old equipment, and installation may be included in, or excluded from the acquisition cost in accordance with the governmental unit’s regular accounting practices.
· The application reflects the effort to get the best possible value for the money including equipment selection criteria, competitive bid research process, and bid reliability.
o Rebates must be reported in documentation and will be subtracted from grant award monies.
· Priority must be given to schools with 50% or more F/R lunch price eligibility.
Timeline
· The equipment assistance grant application will be posted to the SD CANS website http://doe.sd.gov/cans/nslp.aspx by September 27, 2017.
· Applications are due December. 6, 2017.
· Grants to qualifying SFAs will be announced no later than January 2018.
· Grant funds should be obligated by June 30, 2018, if there are concerns with this time frame please contact the CANS office.
· Any funds not used must be returned to the State Agency prior to September 30, 2018.
· Grant recipients should fully expend their NSLP equipment assistance grants by September 30, 2018.
· Contact the CANS office if timelines are a concern.
Access the Application
The grant application is on the CANS website http://doe.sd.gov/cans/nslp.aspx in the 2017 Equipment Assistance Grant section. Contact the office at 605-773-3413 if you cannot access it and we will mail, fax, or email it to you directly. The South Dakota Department of Education reserves the right to negotiate and/or select specific items for approval within the proposal.
How to Submit a Grant Application
Applications will only be accepted by mail. We need original signatures on all required documents.
Mail to:
Fiscal Year 2016 Agriculture Appropriations Act
Attn: Jill Cotton
Child and Adult Nutrition Services – DOE
800 Governors Drive
Pierre, SD 57501-2294
Applications for the Fiscal Year 2017 Agriculture Appropriations Act must be postmarked or time stamped by midnight central time October 27, 2017. Applications postmarked or time stamped after this date will not be accepted. Faxed submissions will not be accepted.
Contact Information
Please feel free to contact the SD CANS office by email or call 605-773-3413. Please reference the Equipment Grant: Fiscal Year 2017 Agriculture Appropriations Act.
Application for Fiscal Year 2017 Agriculture Appropriations Act
Part A: School Food Authority Data
The award criteria are intended to meet specific requirements of the Fiscal Year 2017 Agriculture Appropriations Act. Additional recordkeeping requirements may be required as FY 2017 Agriculture Appropriations Act funds need to be tracked and reported separately from all other funds. Data required to be reported by the SFAs for inclusion in the quarterly progress activity reports:
· Progress made in expending funds
· Types of equipment purchased
· Accomplishments and challenges in expenditure activities
· Impact on the school food service operation of purchased equipment
· Reason(s) for any unliquidated funds
· Potential return of equipment
· Report on the total amount and percentage of administrative costs expended as compared to the total amount allowable for administrate costs
· Which SFA’s have received funding (annually)
· How much funding was received (annually)
Part B: Site or Multiple Site Information: Only one application per SFA will be accepted. If equipment is being requested at multiple sites, the SFA must fill out pages 4 & 5 for each site. If purchasing multiple pieces of equipment the SFA must fill out pages 4 & 5 for each piece of equipment.
Part B
Explanation of Equipment Request
Applicants are encouraged to thoroughly research the equipment being requested and include details explaining why you are choosing a specific brand and model.
Equipment Specifications:
Item ______
Make and Model ______
Size or Other Specifications ______
Federal Local
(can only apply for up to $15,000) (please indicate if you are supplementing
the federal funds with other local funds)
Cost* ______
Installation Costs** ______
Labor Costs ______
Total Cost (less rebate) ______
NOTE: Please attach the equipment bid or quote that you have chosen with the application.
* Cost: Make sure the bid contains the acquisition cost, ancillary costs, company installation costs, and labor costs in detail. Examples of ancillary costs include: shelving, cords, hoses, etc.
** Installation Costs: Make sure to include your installation costs for labor, alteration, rearrangement, modification to install new equipment such as plumbing/electrical expenses. Refer to USDA Memo SP23-2009 - Clarification on Q18 and Q19 from SP20-2009
Part B continued. Please respond to these questions on a separate page. Please type or write legibly. Please put the agency/site name on each additional page.
· If request is for a new piece of equipment, answer questions 1, 2, 3 & 6
· If request is for replacement of old equipment, answer questions 1, 2, 4 & 6
· If request is to renovate an existing piece of equipment, answer questions 1, 2, 5 & 6
1. Briefly describe the equipment being requested.
a. Equipment use, site location, and type of facility (on site kitchen, satellite facility, both).
b. Describe the estimated life of the equipment and how frequently it will be used.
c. Why is this equipment appropriate for the site?
d. Which of the four focus area(s) will the equipment enhance? (See page 2 of application for list of focus areas.)
2. Describe efforts to research competitive prices.
a. How were bids solicited?
b. Where were bids received from?
c. Indicate how you are getting the best possible value for the money (the lowest price is not always indicative of the best value).
d. How reliable is the cost listed on the application?
e. What criteria were used to determine the best product?
3. If this is a new piece of equipment.
a. Explain the research conducted to decide on item, model, and correct size.
b. Explain why this piece of equipment is appropriate for your SFA.
c. Are there accessories that should be included in the application?
4. If this is a replacement of an existing piece of equipment.
a. Describe the condition of the current piece of equipment.
b. Describe what research was done to determine whether another model, type, or size would improve efficiency of the kitchen more than just replacing the old item with another of the same type.
c. Were any new types of products evaluated? What criteria were used to determine the best product?
d. Are there accessories that should be included in the application?
5. If this is a request to renovate existing equipment.
a. Describe why it is more efficient or necessary to renovate the equipment versus replace or buy new and what conditions exist that support renovating the equipment.
b. What contracted labor costs for renovating the equipment.
6. Briefly describe an estimated timeline for the purchase and installation of the proposed equipment.
7. Describe installation costs and how these costs will be covered; for example, itemized in application, the SFA will cover those costs, etc.
SD Department of Education
General Assurances & State Attestation
Assurance is hereby given that, to the extent applicable:
· The STATE shall hold the GRANTEE to the provisions within the application Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) that govern the funds passed through the STATE to the GRANTEE. The CFRs include, but are not limited to: Title 7 – Agriculture (7 CFR), Title 34 – Education (34 CFR) and Title 36 – Parks, Forests, & Public Property (36 CFR). The GRANTEE assures it will adhere to the applicable CFR based on the source of the funds received from the STATE.
· That the GRANTEE will accept funds in accordance with applicable Federal and State statutes, regulations, executive orders, program plans, applications, and awards, and administer the programs in compliance with all provisions of such statutes, executive orders, regulations, applications, policies, agreements, and amendments hereto.
· That the control of funds provided to the GRANTEE under each program and title to property acquired with those funds will be in a designated eligible recipient and that a designated eligible recipient will administer those funds and property.
· That the GRANTEE has the necessary legal authority to apply for and receive the proposed grant or sub-grant and enter into the agreement.
· The GRANTEE will comply with all state and federal requirements, as applicable, for internal controls to ensure compliance with federal and state statutes, regulations, and terms and conditions of the award.
· The GRANTEE shall establish safeguards to prohibit employees from using their position for a purpose that constitutes or presents the appearance of personal or organizational conflict of interest, or personal gain.