CNP meal reimbursement

The Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service awarded the Alabama State Department of Education $7,973,208.50 through the State Administrative Expenses for Child Nutrition program (CFDA 10.560) on October 1, 2025, for CNP meal reimbursement activities through September 30, 2027. The award funds administrative expenses and technical assistance that ALSDE provides to local schools, school districts, and institutions administering the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, and related child nutrition initiatives throughout Alabama. ALSDE functions as a pass-through administrator, sub-awarding federal dollars to local educational agencies and school districts statewide. The State Administrative Expenses program allocates funds to state agencies based on a formula tied to the second preceding fiscal year's child nutrition program expenditures: one percent for National School Lunch, School Breakfast, and Special Milk Programs; and a tiered percentage (20 percent of the first $50,000, 10 percent of the next $100,000, 5 percent of the next $250,000, and 2.5 percent of remaining funds) for the Child and Adult Care Food Program. State agencies may carry over up to twenty percent of allocated SAE funds for obligation in the succeeding fiscal year and must maintain annual single audits and detailed accounting records of all administrative expenses.