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2025 Kitchen Infrastructure and Training and Retention and Recruitment Grant

Grantor:
CA Department of Education
Portal ID:
154623
Status:
Active
Opportunity Type:
  • Grant
Last Updated:
Categories:

Details

Purpose:

The 2025 Kitchen Infrastructure and Training (KIT) Grant competitively awards funding to eligible school food authorities (SFA) to support initiatives for improving the quality of meals served through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP), which may include procurement of California-grown, whole or minimally processed food, food service staff training and salaries, and kitchen infrastructure upgrades.

Description:

On June 27, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 121 (Committee on Budget. Education finance: education omnibus budget trailer bill) into law. Section 79 of this law appropriated $155 million from the State of California’s General Fund to the California Department of Education (CDE) to competitively award $145 million in KIT Grants and $10 million in R&R Grants.

Unlike the previous KIT allocations, these grants are competitive, and eligible entities must apply using an online application. The amount of funding grantees receive will be determined by a funding formula outlined on the “Funding” tab.

Eligible SFAs may choose to apply for one or both of the following grants using the same online application: 

Kitchen Infrastructure and Training Grant
Total Amount of Funds Available to Award: $145,000,000

This grant supports the following types of expenditures:

-Procurement of California-grown, whole or minimally processed, sustainably grown and/or organic ingredients from California producers, for inclusion in reimbursable meals served through the NSLP and SBP.

-Food service staffing costs to support training and professional development for increasing capacity for freshly prepared onsite meals, which may include training on minimally processed, freshly prepared onsite meals, removal of particularly harmful ultraprocessed foods from menus, locally and sustainably grown ingredients, food preparation, healthy food marketing, reducing food waste, and changing the school lunchroom environment to promote a positive dining experience with adequate seat time. This grant may also support additional compensation for additional work relating to serving Universal Meals that may include preparing and serving minimally processed, locally and sustainably grown foods, organic foods, and plant-based or restricted diet food or milk options.

-Kitchen infrastructure or equipment upgrades to increase the capacity and service options for offering freshly prepared onsite meals using minimally processed, locally grown, organic, and sustainable ingredients, and increase a school’s capacity to prepare meals that surpass the current nutritional quality of food served through the SNPs, while also reducing food waste and promoting adequate seat time. When purchasing equipment, SFAs are encouraged, to the extent practicable, to acquire energy-saving electric and induction equipment rather than equipment that uses fossil fuels.

Recruitment and Retention Grant
Total Amount of Funds Available to Distribute: $10,000,000

The R&R Grant is intended to support the retention and recruitment of school nutrition professionals. This grant should primarily be used to support one-time costs associated with recruiting and retaining qualified school nutrition food service staff to meet the increased demands associated with providing high quality school meals. This could include signing bonuses, one-time bonuses, or recruitment activities. The R&R funding can also be used for training and professional development opportunities for school nutrition food service staff, or staffing costs associated with scheduling changes to increase access to school meals.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Applicants:

  • Public Agency

The 2025 KIT and R&R Grants are only available to eligible SFAs defined in Senate Bill 121 as public school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools. Only eligible SFAs that are approved to operate the NSLP and SBP will be eligible to receive grant funding.

Important Dates

The date (and time, where applicable) by which all applications must be submitted to the grantmaker. Time listed as “00:00” equates to midnight.
The date on which the grantor expects to announce the recipient(s) of the grant.
July 1, 2026
The length of time during which the grant money must be utilized.
9 weeks

Funding Details

The total projected dollar amount of the grant.
$155,000,000
A single grant opportunity may represent one or many awards. Some grantors may know in advance the exact number of awards to be given. Others may indicate a range. Some may wish to and wait until the application period closes before determining how many awards to offer; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
Dependent
Grant opportunities representing multiple awards may offer awards in the same amount or in varied amounts. Some may wish to wait until the application period closes before determining per-award amounts; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
Dependent
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) provide a letter of intent.
No
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) be able to fully or partially match the grant award amount with another funding source.
No
The funding source allocated to fund the grant. It may be either State or Federal (or a combination of both), and be tied to a specific piece of legislation, a proposition, or a bond number.
  • State
The manner in which the grant funding will be delivered to the awardee. Funding methods include reimbursements (where the recipient spends out-of-pocket and is reimbursed by the grantor) and advances (where the recipient spends received grant funds directly).
  • Advances & Reimbursement(s)

Funding Method Notes:

After the SFA signs the KIT GAN, the CDE will distribute the initial 50 percent of the awarded grant funding. All grantees will be required to complete a progress report with details on how the funds have been used or the planned expenditures. Upon progress report submission, SFAs will be eligible to receive an additional 25 percent of their remaining award. The CDE will distribute the remaining 25 percent upon receipt of the SFA’s final report.

How to Apply

State agencies/departments recommend you read the full grant guidelines before applying.

Resources

For questions about this grant, contact:
2025 KIT R&R Grant Team, 1-916-445-4778, KIT2025@cde.ca.gov

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