Fessenden-Bowdon School District

Fessenden-Bowdon School District, a local government entity and school district based in Fessenden, North Dakota, receives federal funding as a direct grant recipient and as a sub-recipient under state-pass-through grants, with no prime contracting presence in the federal system. The district acts as grant recipient in 18% of recent awards and as sub-recipient in 82%, with concentrated exposure to child nutrition and elementary-secondary education funding streams managed through the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service and the Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The district's federal footprint centers on formula grants for school meal programs and Title I education funding. As a prime recipient, Fessenden-Bowdon has received four consecutive annual awards under the Small, Rural School Achievement Program from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, with awards dated July 1 for fiscal years 2023 through 2026 and ultimate completion dates running through September 30, 2027. The district's sub-recipient role draws exclusively from the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction as the pass-through grantee. Sub-awards span child nutrition programs (the National School Lunch Program paid and free-or-reduced components, the School Breakfast Program, the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program) and education programs (Title I funding and Title V transfers). Recent sub-awards show monthly or quarterly distribution cycles, with the largest clusters dated June through April 2026, December 2025 through January 2026, and continuing into late 2025 and 2024.

Concentration is extreme. The Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service accounts for 62 of 83 total awards (approximately 75% of the award count), while the Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education accounts for 21 awards (approximately 25%). This two-agency footprint represents 100% of the district's recent federal award activity. Combined dollars obligated across all awards total only $369 thousand, reflecting the formula-grant nature of school district funding and the absence of contract awards. Activity shows growth in sub-award volume over the past five years — one award in 2022, thirteen in 2023, eleven in 2024, twenty-three in 2025, and twenty-five in 2026 — driven by the monthly or quarterly frequency of child nutrition program distributions from the state pass-through. Only one award reaches ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating minimal near-term recompete exposure relative to the ongoing stream of formula grant sub-awards.