Department Of Education Delaware

The Department of Education Delaware, a child agency of the State of Delaware, receives federal education and child nutrition formula grants and administers one multi-year federal contract as the state's primary K–12 education agency and state educational agency (SEA), serving as a prime recipient on 99% of its 615 recent awards and holding no independent federal contracting vehicle seats.

The Department of Education Delaware operates as a formula-grant pass-through entity, sub-awarding federal funds to local educational agencies, school districts, charter schools, and community-based organizations across Delaware. Its portfolio spans special education, English language acquisition, school nutrition, career and technical education, assessments, and academic enrichment. Recent representative prime work includes a $2.8 million definitive, firm fixed-price contract awarded by the Institute of Education Sciences on April 1, 2025, appointing Delaware as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) State Coordinator through March 31, 2035 — a ten-year engagement to administer federal assessment coordination and data collection services statewide with place of performance in Leipsic, Delaware. The Department holds multiple formula grants totaling tens of millions of dollars annually: a $15.1 million Special Education Grants to States award (CFDA 84.027, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, July 1, 2026), a $23.9 million Title I Part A Basic Grants to Local Educational Agencies award (CFDA 84.010, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, July 1, 2026), a $6.7 million Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants award (CFDA 84.424, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, July 1, 2026), and a $9.7 million Education Innovation and Research project grant for the Literacy for We the People, East Region initiative (CFDA 84.411, January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2030). The Department also administers federal child nutrition programs, including a $76.5 million National School Lunch Program award (CFDA 10.555, Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, October 1, 2025) and a $16.8 million consolidated school lunch block award also under CFDA 10.555.

Customer concentration is extreme and predictable given the state education agency mission. The top five funding agencies account for 83% of awards by count, led overwhelmingly by the Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (256 awards), the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (158 awards across two separate count entries), the Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (53 awards), and the Department of Education Office of Career Technical and Adult Education (45 awards). The Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences anchors potential value with 5 awards carrying $6.1 million combined potential value. The Department receives no awards under GWACs, BPAs, or agency-wide IDIQs; all work is direct federal grant or contract award to the state.

Recent activity runs consistently at 29–33 awards per year across 2022–2025, with 17 awards recorded in 2026 year-to-date. Twenty-six awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and therefore carry recompete exposure. The Department sub-receives federal funds from the Executive Office of the Governor of Delaware (on farm-to-pharmacy pilot and parent-as-teacher (PAT) monitoring oversight sub-awards) and from the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (on opioid response and substance use prevention block grant sub-awards), though sub-award volume is minimal at 1% of the prime footprint. The Department's sub-awards typically flow to school districts including Indian River, Christina, Red Clay Consolidated, Capital, Brandywine, Lake Forest, and Caesar Rodney School Districts; charter schools such as Academia Antonia Alonso Charter and Freire Charter School; universities including the University of Delaware; and nonprofits such as Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware and Catholic Charities Inc., which deliver direct educational and nutritional services to students and families across the state.