Tate Topa Tribal School

Tate Topa Tribal School, doing business as Tate Topa BIA Community School, is a tribally owned educational institution in Fort Totten, North Dakota, that receives federal formula grants as a prime recipient and administers federal school meal sub-awards as a sub-recipient under two distinct grantor agencies. The school does not compete for federal contracts and holds no contract vehicles; its federal footprint consists entirely of grant funding for Indian education and child nutrition programming.

Tate Topa Tribal School is classified as a tribal government and educational institution. It is a minority institution serving Native American students and operates as a child entity under the Government of the United States (Bureau of Indian Affairs). The school's federal activity centers on two primary grant programs over the past several years, with award volume growing from one award in 2022 to twenty-four awards in 2026. The school has obligated $4.5 million across ninety-eight total awards (prime grants and meal-program sub-awards combined) and serves only two federal grantor agencies.

The school's prime grant work is exclusively from the Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education under the Indian Education Grants to Local Educational Agencies program (CFDA 84.060). Tate Topa Tribal School has received formula grants totaling approximately $626 thousand across five consecutive years: $131,052 for the period July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023; $120,000 for July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025; $122,020 for July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026; and $119,788 for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. These grants fund culturally-relevant curriculum, instructional programming, and student support services addressing the unique cultural, linguistic, and academic needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students, including instruction in tribal languages, histories, and traditions, while supporting teachers and school leaders in delivering culturally appropriate and effective instruction.

Tate Topa Tribal School's secondary federal footprint is a high-volume stream of school meal sub-awards from the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, which passes through Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service funding. The school receives recurring monthly and quarterly sub-awards for the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), National School Lunch Program free and reduced meals (NSLP Free/Red), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), and Commodity Nutrition Block funding (CN Block). These eighty sub-awards constitute 82% of the school's federal award count and represent the bulk of obligated dollars. The school administers these programs to provide nutrition support and meals to its Native American student population and does not serve as a sub-awardee for contract work.

Activity has grown year-over-year from 2022 onward, with 2026 showing the highest volume at twenty-four awards through mid-August. Only one award reaches ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating minimal recompete exposure. The school's federal relationship is exclusively grant-based, with no exposure to the contract marketplace or government-wide acquisition vehicles.