Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 581 - OREGON DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION › Division 17 - STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS › Section 581-017-0444 - Awarding and Using Competitive Oregon Farm-to-School Program Education Grants

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1) The Oregon
			 Department of Education shall allocate funds for competitive Oregon
			 Farm-to-School Program education grants.
(2) Competitive Oregon Farm-to-School Program
			 education grants will be awarded to those eligible entities whose grant
			 proposals are judged by the department as best addressing the applicable
			 evaluation criteria.
(3) The
			 department will notify the eligible entities selected for a proposed
			 competitive education grant award by either mail or email. Within two weeks of
			 receiving notice, the entity must notify the department whether it accepts the
			 award.
(4) The department will
			 award competitive Oregon Farm-to-School Program education grants for the
			 biennium beginning on July 1, of the first year of the biennium, and ending on
			 June 30, on the second year of the biennium. If funding is available,
			 additional competitive grants will be awarded in subsequent biennia.
(5) The amount of any competitive Oregon
			 Farm-to-School education grants awarded by the department on or after July 1,
			 on the first year of the biennium, for the biennium beginning on July 1, will
			 be at least $2,000.00 and no more than $100,000.00.
(6) The recipient of a competitive Oregon
			 Farm to School Program education grant that was awarded by the department on or
			 after July 1, on the first year of the biennium, for the biennium beginning on
			 July 1, may reserve up to twenty-five percent of the total amount awarded for
			 all costs incurred through direct administration of the food-based,
			 agriculture-based, or garden-based educational activities offered by the grant
			 recipient, including administrative labor, supplies and indirect
			 costs.
(7) The department may
			 reallocate competitive Oregon Farm-to-School Program education grant funds to
			 other eligible entities if education grant funds either remain after awards are
			 made or become unobligated, or if a grant recipient is not making adequate
			 progress towards spending all of its grant award during the biennium in which
			 the award was made.
(8) Grant funds
			 awarded for use in one biennium may not be carried over to the following
			 biennium, and will revert to the department at the end of the biennium, unless
			 otherwise determined by the department.
(9) Recipients of a competitive Oregon
			 Farm-to-School Program education grant must deposit the grant funds they
			 receive in an account that is separate from their nonprofit food service
			 account, or assign those funds a separate account or index number. Grant funds
			 may only be used for the purpose of providing the food-based,
			 agriculture-based, or garden-based educational activities it proposed to offer
			 for the benefit of children enrolled in a public school or public charter
			 school within a school district, or a center-based program for
			 children.
(10) The department may
			 reallocate competitive education grant funds to other eligible entities if
			 competitive education grant funds either remain after awards are made or become
			 unobligated, or if a grant recipient does not spend all of its grant award
			 during the biennium in which the award was made.
(11) The department, at its sole discretion,
			 may disburse up to twenty-five percent of a grant recipient's award in advance
			 if the recipient can first demonstrate a compelling need.
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS
				  326.051, HB 2579 (2019) &
				  ORS 336.431
Statutes/Other Implemented: HB 2579 (2019) & ORS
				  336.431