BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1594
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          Date of Hearing:   March 28, 2012

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                Julia Brownley, Chair
                   AB 1594 (Eng) - As Introduced:  February 6, 2012
           
          SUBJECT  :   Charter schools: pupil nutrition.

           SUMMARY  :   Requires a charter school to provide each needy pupil 
          with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal, that 
          qualifies for reimbursement under the federal child nutrition 
          program regulations, each schoolday.  Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Exempts charter schools that only offer nonclassroom-based 
            instruction from the requirement to provide a free or 
            reduced-price meal each school day.  

          2)Makes findings and declarations regarding the importance of 
            school meals in supporting the academic achievement and 
            overall well-being of students.

           EXISTING LAW  requires all K-12 schools to provide one 
          nutritionally adequate meal, that qualifies for reimbursement 
          under the federal child nutrition program regulations, to all 
          students eligible for free and reduced-price meals and exempts 
          charter schools from this requirement.  (Education Code 49550)

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   Unknown

           COMMENTS  :    Charter School Background  :  According to the 
          California Department of Education (CDE), there are currently 
          983 charter schools operating with student enrollment from 
          2010-11 of more than 369,000 in the state.  This includes three 
          statewide benefit charters and 18 State Board of Education 
          (SBE)-approved charters.  Some charter schools are new, while 
          others are conversions from existing public schools.  Charter 
          schools are part of the state's public education system and are 
          funded by public dollars.  A charter school is usually created 
          or organized by a group of teachers, parents and community 
          leaders, a community-based organization, or an education 
          management organization.  Charter schools are authorized by 
          school district boards, county boards of education or the state 
          board of education.  A charter school is generally exempt from 
          most laws governing school districts, except where specifically 
          noted in the law.  








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          Existing law requires all K-12 schools to provide one 
          nutritionally adequate meal, that qualifies for reimbursement 
          under the federal child nutrition program regulations, to all 
          students eligible for free and reduced-price meals.  Public 
          schools and districts across California are bound by this 
          requirement, also known as the "State Meal Mandate," but the 
          majority also choose to participate in NSLP and the School 
          Breakfast Program (SBP), so they can feed all their students 
          (not just those eligible for free/reduced-price meals), and 
          receive federal and state reimbursement for all meals served, 
          and federal commodities.   Charter schools, however, are exempt 
          from the "State Meal Mandate" requirement.  While many charter 
          schools provide an education to students who qualify for free 
          and reduced priced meals, many charter schools do not provide 
          meals to the children.  This bill would require charter schools, 
          with the exception of schools that only provide nonclassroom 
          based instruction, to provide a meal during the schoolday to 
          students who are eligible for free and reduced priced meals.

          According to the author, the California State Auditor recently 
          reviewed California charter schools in an effort to gain a 
          broader understanding of how charter schools are meeting the 
          nutritional needs of students, particularly low-income students. 
           The audit suggests that a significant number of charter schools 
          currently provide meals via the NSLP and SBP, while a number of 
          charter schools serve meals without utilizing the federal 
          nutrition programs and others provide no meals at all.  Of the 
          schools that did not participate in NSLP and SBP, some adjusted 
          the price of meals for low-income students while others did not. 
           The results of the audit indicate that it is feasible for 
          California charter schools to provide meals, including meals for 
          free and reduced-price eligible students.

           State Auditor's Report  :  According to the State Auditor's 
          October 2010 report on Charter Schools, "Despite the limitations 
          of Education's data, we were able to identify 815 charter 
          schools active in California as of April 2010.  According to the 
          data, 451 were participating in the breakfast or lunch program 
          and an additional 151 were providing instruction to their 
          students outside the classroom, either online or independently, 
          and thus do not provide meals. We surveyed the remaining 213 
          charter schools to identify those that provide an alternative 
          meal program and those that do not provide meals to their 
          students. Of the 133 responses we received, 46 charter schools 








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          stated that they offer their students an alternative meal 
          program, 39 stated that they do not provide meals to their 
          students, 41 stated that they were in fact participating in the 
          programs, and four stated that they provide instruction based 
          outside the classroom. In addition, three charter schools stated 
          that they do not provide meals to students or participate in the 
          breakfast and lunch programs because their students are age 18 
          or older and are not eligible to participate in the programs.

          The 46 charter schools responding to the survey that provide an 
          alternative meal program have varying methods of providing 
          meals, ranges of meal costs, and reasons for offering an 
          alternative meal program. Most of these schools either have 
          their staff prepare and deliver the meals or hire contractors to 
          do so. The students at these charter schools paid between 50 
          cents and $5 for their meals. In addition, the primary reason 
          cited by 15, or 33 percent, of these schools for having an 
          alternative meal program is to allow them to provide what they 
          described as fresher, healthier food choices to their students 
          than the breakfast or lunch program provides. Some of these 
          charter schools stated that they provide meals that meet or 
          exceed the USDA's nutritional standards. Generally, these 
          charter schools believe that the nutritional needs of their 
          students, including low-income students, are being met. 

          As mentioned previously, state law does not require charter 
          schools to provide each needy student with one nutritionally 
          adequate free or reduced-price meal during each school day. The 
          39 charter schools that do not provide meals to their students 
          gave various reasons for not participating in the breakfast and 
          lunch programs and not providing an alternative meal. The 
          primary reason was lack of a kitchen, cafeteria, or other 
          facility to prepare and deliver meals to their students. Another 
          reason commonly cited was a lack of funding and staffing to 
          operate an alternative meal program or participate in the 
          breakfast and lunch programs. Generally, however, these charter 
          schools believe that the nutritional needs of their students, 
          including their low-income students, are being met.  Many of the 
          schools stated that their students bring lunch from home.  We 
          also found that some of these charter schools inform parents via 
          handbooks that can be found on their Web sites that they do not 
          provide meals. Thus, when parents choose to pack their 
          children's lunch and schools make parents aware of the fact that 
          they do not provide meals, it becomes the parents' 
          responsibility to ensure that their children's nutritional needs 








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          are met."

           Committee Amendment  : To clarify that online charter schools are 
          also exempt from the provisions of the bill, staff recommends an 
          amendment to specify that the bill does not apply to a charter 
          school that only offers instruction online.
           
          Arguments in Support  :  The California Food Policy Advocates 
          supports the bill and states, "AB 1594 should be viewed as an 
          opportunity to advance the mission of charter schools and 
          support the well-being and academic achievement of students 
          attending them.  Parents and students should not have to leave 
          an essential resource behind when making the decision to attend 
          a charter school.  Access to school meals should be available to 
          all low-income students regardless of whether they attend a 
          traditional public school or charter school."

           Arguments in Opposition  :  The California Charter Schools 
          Association Advocates opposes the bill and states, "AB 1594 
          begins with an unspoken and unfortunate premise, that some 
          charter schools do not provide a meal to low-income children 
          because they choose not to.  Such a premise does not acknowledge 
          or account for the profound challenges some charter schools have 
          in providing a meal program.  If enacted, the bill would place 
          many charter schools in an impossible situation: requiring a 
          service without the resources to provide that service."

           Previous Legislation  : AB 2954 (Liu) from 2006, which was vetoed 
          by the Governor, allowed charter school authorizers to require 
          charter schools to provide free and reduced priced meals to 
          students as a condition for approval, among other things.  The 
          bill was vetoed with the following message:
               While I understand the plight of school districts faced 
               with fiscal challenges of declining enrollment and other 
               management issues, I cannot condone allowing them to deny 
               parents and students their rights to petition for the 
               establishment of a charter school.  In essence, this bill 
               would grant school districts the authority to punish 
               charter petitioners because of problems caused by their own 
               fiscal management issues or their unwillingness to make 
               tough decisions, or both.  In addition, allowing school 
               districts to require, as a condition of approval, that the 
               petition describe how the charter school will provide free 
               and reduced-priced meals to eligible pupils would simply 
               provide districts with another pretext on which to deny a 








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               charter.  Charter schools are generally exempt from most 
               laws and regulations governing school districts and they 
               should continue to be exempt from this one.  In sum, this 
               bill runs counter to the intent of charter schools, which 
               is to provide parents and students with other options 
               within the public school system and to stimulate 
               competition that improves the quality not only of charter 
               schools, but of non-charter schools as well.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          California Food Policy Advocates (Sponsor)
          Alameda County Community Food Bank
          California Association of Food Banks
          California Communities United Institute
          California School Boards Association
          California School Employees Association
          Feeding America San Diego
          Hand Up Student Advisory Board
          Hunger Action Los Angeles
          Hunger Advocacy Network
          Interfaith Community Services
          Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank
          Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles
          Marin Food Bank
          National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
          Orange County Food Bank
          Regional Taskforce on Homelessness
          San Francisco Food Bank
          Western Center on Law and Poverty

           Opposition 
           
          California Charter Schools Association Advocates
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087