Cornell School District

Cornell School District, a public school district in Cornell, Wisconsin, operates as a federal grant recipient focused on K–12 education programming and facility safety initiatives. The district receives federal education grants directly from the Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and participates as a sub-recipient in nutrition, special education, and community learning programs flowing through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Cornell School District is a U.S. local government entity—not a for-profit vendor or contractor. The district serves approximately 400 students across three buildings (elementary, middle/high, and athletic facility) with a staff of 59 teaching, custodial, administrative, and support personnel. Federal awards to the district are formula grants and project grants rather than competitively solicited contracts; the district does not hold prime federal contracts or IDVs.

The district's prime federal grant footprint centers on the Small, Rural School Achievement Program from the Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, with recurring annual awards on July 1 in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026—covering the period through September 30, 2027. The district also holds a project grant from the Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Program awarded October 1, 2023, with completion scheduled for September 30, 2026. That grant funds school safety enhancements including unified master key systems (addressing aging lock cores dating to 1914), two-way radio systems covering the district's campus and athletic facilities, and upgrades to phone and intercom infrastructure to enable emergency communication from any phone or cell phone within school buildings.

Sub-award activity concentrates in nutrition and special education programs flowing through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The district receives regular sub-grants under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), Title I Grants to Local Education Agencies (CFDA 84.010), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part B (IDEA flow-through), the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers program (CFDA 84.287C), and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). The source lists forty sub-awards dating from July 2023 through August 2026, with recurring monthly NSLP allocations and periodic Title I, IDEA, and summer-meal funding. The district also received American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ARP-ESSER) sub-award funding in May 2023.

Recent activity shows growing federal engagement: one award in 2022, five in 2023, thirteen in 2024, seventeen in 2025, and nine in 2026 through mid-August. The combined dollars obligated across all sixty-one awards total $3.2 million. The district serves four distinct federal customer agencies, with the Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service accounting for 93% of recent awards (27 and 26 awards respectively). Only one award carries an ultimate completion date within the next twenty-four months, indicating limited near-term recompete exposure. Cornell School District operates entirely as a grant recipient and sub-recipient; it does not function as a vendor, prime contractor, or teaming partner for federal contractors.