Bowbells School District 14

Bowbells School District 14, a U.S. local government school district entity headquartered in Bowbells, North Dakota, operates as a federal grant recipient in the K-12 education space, receiving direct formula grants from the Department of Education and sub-awards routed through the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction from the Department of Agriculture. The district functions predominantly as a sub-recipient (69% of recent awards) rather than a prime grant recipient, with its federal footprint split between direct prime grants for school achievement programming and pass-through sub-awards for child nutrition programs.

The district's customer base is entirely concentrated in two federal agencies: the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (38 awards) and the Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (20 awards), accounting for 100% of tracked awards. Sub-award activity from USDA dominates in volume, flowing through North Dakota's Department of Public Instruction with awards spanning the National School Lunch Program (NSLP Free/Reduced, NSLP Paid), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), Child Nutrition Block Grants, and School Nutrition Equipment Grants (CFDA 10.579). The Department of Education prime awards are formula grants under the Small, Rural School Achievement Program, with consecutive annual awards dated July 1 in each of 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026, running through September 30 of the following fiscal year. The district also received a sub-award in November 2024 for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) funding at Bowbells Elementary School (84.010A) and an ESSER II sub-award in March 2023 for instructional programming.

Recent activity has accelerated sharply. The district received one award in 2022, two in 2023, two in 2024, eleven in 2025, and twenty-nine in the first half of 2026, reflecting consistent participation in recurring nutrition and achievement programs. Combined dollars obligated across all awards in the source stand at $258 thousand, reflecting the sub-award passthrough nature of most transactions. One award reaches ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, carrying minimal recompete exposure relative to the annualized formula-grant structure. The district's federal engagement centers on student nutrition program administration and small-rural-school operational support rather than contract work or IT services; it does not hold prime federal contract vehicles and does not serve as a prime contractor.