LM Nov-Dec_2023

News In Brief

Apply for FY 2024 NSLP Equipment Grants

New Education Impact Report On November 30, 2023, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative shared an impact report that looks back on eight years of CZI’s work in education. The new report details eight years of CZI’s efforts to reimagine education— from advancing research on learning and human development to equipping teachers to address the toughest challenges in the classroom. Co-building with educators, they developed easy-to-use tech tools grounded in research, reaching more than 250,000 students in 46 states and Washington, D.C. They made more than 1,000 grants to over 420 organizations (including AASA!), with grant partners positively impacting more than 5 million students. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service allocates funds to ISBE for the purpose of providing equipment assistance to eligible School Food Authorities (SFAs) through competitive grants. These grants are intended to support the capacity of SFAs that operate the federally funded National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and/or School Breakfast Program (SBP) by enabling them to meet school food service equipment needs. A total of $1,051,731 is available for this funding opportunity. All Illinois SFAs that participate in NSLP are eligible to apply. SFAs may request up to $50,000 to replace, renovate, or purchase new school food service equipment that is needed for NSLP/SBP operations, and which enables them to serve healthier program meals; improve food safety; and/or support expansion or establishment of the School Breakfast Program. SFAs may submit project proposals until 4 p.m. on Monday, Dec.18. For full details, see the Notice of Funding Opportunity/ Request for Proposals and information on how to apply on the NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant webpage.

Partnership to Distribute Free COVID-19 Tests to Schools Across the Country

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), a division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced a partnership to distribute free COVID-19 tests to schools across the country. In a letter sent to local education agencies (LEAs) by ED, school districts are being encouraged to order tests directly from the federal government to be made available to students, parents, staff, and school communities. The tests will be made freely available to all traditional and charter LEAs nationwide. School districts may distribute these tests for free to students, staff, parents, and school communities, with the expectation that millions of tests will be sent out in the coming months— allowing schools to stock nurses’ offices, distribute at events, send tests home with students or parents, and more. Click here to learn more.

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LM Holidays 2023