BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1594 Page 1 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. AB 1594 Page 2 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 AB 1594 Page 3 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 AB 1594 Page 4 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 AB 1594 Page 5 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