Federal Grant Award Summary

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Child Nutrition Division awarded $2,120,631 to the Department of Education of the U.S. Virgin Islands under the National School Lunch Program (CFDA 10.555) for the period October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. This Formula Grant provides cash subsidies and USDA Foods to support the delivery of nutritionally balanced, low-cost or no-cost lunches to eligible school children across the territory's public and nonprofit private schools. The funding enables participating schools to maintain compliance with federal meal pattern requirements while ensuring nutritional access to all children regardless of socioeconomic status.

As the territorial state education agency, the Department of Education (operating as the Raphael O Wheatley Skills Center) administers the program and distributes sub-awards to schools and school food authorities across the U.S. Virgin Islands' three main islands. Sub-awardees include elementary schools, junior and senior high schools, and alternative educational facilities such as Addelita Cancryn Junior High School and the St. Croix Educational Complex. The entity maintains responsibility for determining school eligibility, managing written participation agreements, establishing meal reimbursement rates, and ensuring that school food authorities maintain accurate records of nonprofit meal operations in compliance with federal standards.