Manzanita Elementary School District

Manzanita Elementary School District, a school district based in Gridley, California, is a federal grant recipient that receives formula grants and sub-grants from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and participates in the Department of Agriculture's food service programs, operating as a prime recipient on Small Rural School Achievement Program grants and as a sub-recipient on nutrition, English language acquisition, and teacher quality improvement initiatives.

As a U.S. local government entity, Manzanita does not hold federal contracts or compete under set-aside categories. The district's federal footprint consists entirely of grant funding — 19 prime grants and 9 sub-grants across 28 total awards in the source data, with $672 thousand in combined obligations. The prime grant awards center on the Small Rural School Achievement Program, a formula grant from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education awarded annually July 1 through September 30 cycles; Manzanita has received five consecutive years of these awards (2022 through 2026, with the 2026 award running through September 2027). The sub-grant awards flow through the California Department of Education and include National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program funding, English Language Learner services support, Title I grants for high-poverty school improvement, and Title II teacher quality initiatives.

Customer concentration is narrow: the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education accounts for 22 of 27 categorized awards (96% coverage), the Food and Nutrition Service for 4 awards, and the Office of English Language Acquisition for 1 award. Activity has accelerated markedly — one award in 2022, one in 2023, two in 2024, two in 2025, and eight in 2026 — reflecting the district's recent entry into or expansion within federal grant streams. Only one award faces ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months (the recompete cliff window). Because Manzanita is a school district rather than a vendor or contractor, it does not serve as a supply, services, or staffing provider to other federal contractors; it is a direct recipient of education and nutrition assistance funding for K–12 operations.