Mountain Union School District

Mountain Union School District, doing business as Montgomery Creek School, is a California-based rural school district that receives federal formula grants and sub-grants as a prime recipient from the Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and subordinate sub-grants channeled through California state agencies. The district does not hold federal contracts; all federal activity is grant-based, comprising 63% prime grant receipts and 37% sub-grant receipts flowing from state intermediaries.

The district's federal footprint centers on two funding streams. The primary revenue source is the Small, Rural School Achievement Program administered by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, under which Mountain Union has received annual formula grants since 2022 (most recent awards dated July 1, 2023, July 1, 2024, July 1, 2025, and July 1, 2026, with completion dates cycling September 30 of the following year). Secondary funding flows through sub-grant passes from the California Department of Education and California Department of Social Services, covering child nutrition programs — the National School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program — and academic achievement initiatives targeting high-poverty schools and teacher quality improvement. Recent sub-grant awards dated August and September 2026 address breakfast and lunch service expansion, teacher and principal quality initiatives, and direct certification technical assistance.

Customer concentration is narrow and stable. The Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education accounts for 23 of 32 total awards, and the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service for 7 awards, together covering 94% of the district's federal award portfolio. Combined dollars obligated across all awards total $469 thousand, reflecting the modest scale typical of formula-grant recipients in rural districts. Award frequency has increased modestly — one award in 2022 and 2023, three in 2024, four in 2025, and eight in 2026 (reflecting the quarterly rhythm of sub-grants flowing through state intermediaries) — but the recompete cliff is minimal; only one award reaches ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. The district's federal engagement is passive and compliance-driven rather than competitive: it qualifies for and receives statutory formula allocations and passes through child nutrition funding to support school operations and student services in a high-poverty, geographically isolated rural area.