BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2555 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 25, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 2555 (Carter) - As Introduced: February 24, 2012 Policy Committee: Education Vote:6-3 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No SUMMARY This bill requires a waiver application for the Summer Food Service (SFS) program to be submitted to the State Board of Education (SBE) no later than 60 days before the board's last regular meeting before the beginning of the summer school session for which the waiver is sought. FISCAL EFFECT No additional costs to the State Department of Education to implement this measure. COMMENTS 1)Background . The SFS program is a federally-funded program that reimburses sponsors for administrative and operational costs for providing meals to children 18 years of age and younger during periods when they are out of school for 15 or more consecutive school days. Public and private schools, Indian tribal governments, local governments, and other public or private nonprofit agencies are eligible to participate in the program. Existing law requires schools district to provide needy students one nutritious meal every school day, including summer sessions. Districts can obtain a one-year waiver of the summer session meal service requirement, if the district can demonstrate specified conditions related to the availability and proximity of another SFS program, or, if serving meals during the summer would result in a financial loss to the district, as specified. AB 2555 Page 2 2)Purpose . Current law requires a school district to submit a SFS program waiver request to the SBE no later than 30 days prior to the last regular meeting of the SBE before the beginning of the summer school session, as specified. According to the author, "Since 2005, ŬSDE] has been making a concerted effort to reduce the number of waivers to the state meal Ŭrequirement] for summer school going before the SBE. Over the last six years the number of waivers requested has decreased by over 75%. The additional 30 days, that this bill affords, will allow ŬSDE] staff to provide school districts with in-depth technical assistance in exploring alternative methods of providing meals to children before the waiver is presented before the SBE." Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916) 319-2081