Dear Superintendents and Independent School Heads:
On Oct. 2, 2020, H. 969 (Act 154), was passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor. It contained an additional appropriation to the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE) of the Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) allocated to Vermont by the CARES Act. Part of these CRF funds are intended to be used by School Food Authorities and other Child Nutrition Program sponsors to reimburse CARES Act-eligible supplies and equipment, including vehicles, freezers and other capital assets necessary to provide meals to children using the federal child nutrition programs during the COVID-19 state of emergency. The period of performance for this grant for incurred eligible costs is from March 1, 2020, through Dec. 30, 2020.
Also included in H.969 (Act 154) was a similar grant for Farm to School Program participants through the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (AAFM) totaling $100,000. The purpose of this grant is to reimburse schools or licensed and registered childcare providers for equipment, materials and supplies that are both necessary expenditures related to the public health emergency and expenditures that support the local procurement and hands-on education goals of farm to school. These include improvements for outdoor learning and/or dining spaces and equipment for processing, packaging, storing and serving meals safely. The period of performance for this grant is from March 1, 2020 – Oct. 16, 2020.
To streamline and simplify the application process for these grants, the AOE and AAFM have created a single joint application using a webform that will guide eligible applicants through the process of determining eligibility and completion of the appropriate application(s). Additional resources and links are available on the AOE’s Coronavirus Relief Fund webpage.
Applications are due Nov. 2, 2020. Please contact Michael Carr at Michael.Carr@vermont.gov if you have any questions about your AOE Child Nutrition Equipment grant application or Trevor Lowell at Trevor.Lowell@vermont.gov for the AAFM Farm to School grant application.
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