Morgan County Schools

Morgan County Schools, a U.S. local government school district headquartered in Wartburg, Tennessee, is a federal grant recipient that receives education, nutrition, and safety funding as a sub-recipient from the Tennessee Department of Education and from direct federal sources. The district operates exclusively as a sub-recipient (96% of recent awards) rather than as a prime contractor; it holds three prime federal grants totaling roughly $1.25 million in recent direct awards from the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice.

The district's federal footprint concentrates heavily in K–12 education and child nutrition programs routed through state passthrough mechanisms. The top five funding agencies account for 90% of recent awards, dominated by the Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (27 awards) and the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (23 awards), with the Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (9 awards), the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service (1 award), and the Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Program (1 award) comprising the remainder. Sub-awards from the Tennessee Department of Education and the Tennessee Department of Human Services span Title I Basic Grants to LEAs, special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, career and technical education (Perkins), student support and academic enrichment grants, the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. These sub-awards flow as reimbursement allocations and instructional-support funding tied to student population and meal service volumes.

Morgan County Schools holds two direct prime federal grants. A $999,185 award from the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service under the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants program (CFDA 10.855) runs through September 23, 2027, supporting substance use disorder educational initiatives in rural Wartburg, Tennessee. A $255,558 award from the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services under the Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Grants program (CFDA 16.710) runs through September 30, 2027, funding evidence-based school safety programs and technology to improve security at schools and on school grounds.

Recent activity has grown sharply — four awards in 2022, two in 2023, then twenty-seven in 2024 and sixteen in 2025, with ten awards recorded in 2026. The combined dollars obligated across all awards stands at $29.8 million. Only one award faces ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, reflecting a stable recompete exposure. The district's role in the federal grant ecosystem is primarily operational and compliance-focused: managing sub-awards for student services, nutrition programs, and special education under state education agency intermediation, supplemented by direct federal grants for rural distance learning and school safety initiatives.