Corrected Special Bulletin: Update on Federal Shutdown

department of education

Special Bulletin: Update on Federal Shutdown

In our attempt to send this update as soon as possible, we inadvertently sent a draft version of this message earlier today. Please refer to the message below for the update on the federal shutdown. We apologize for any confusion.


On Tuesday, January 8, 2019, USDA released a plan to increase funding for child nutrition programs.  This means that even if the federal shutdown continues, there should be no disruption to processing reimbursement payments until at least the middle of March.

Read the full statement from USDA.

Key points from the statement:

  • Child nutrition programs, including school meals and the Child and Adult Care Food Program, already have funding to cover program operations for the month of January (approximately $2.1 billion) on the basis of the last continuing resolution. 
  • USDA will provide an additional two months’ worth of funding, consistent with the standard practice of funding these programs on a quarterly basis.

MDE will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.