BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






                         SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                Carol Liu, Chair
                           2013-2014 Regular Session
                                        

          BILL NO:       AB 2449 
          AUTHOR:        Bocanegra
          AMENDED:       June 18, 2014
          FISCAL COMM:   Yes            HEARING DATE:  June 25, 2014
          URGENCY:       No             CONSULTANT:    Lynn Lorber

           SUBJECT  :  Adequate time to eat.
          
           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires school districts and county offices of  
          education to ensure that each of their schools provide  
          students adequate time to eat after being served a meal.

           BACKGROUND  

          Current law requires each school district or county  
          superintendent of schools serving kindergarten or any of  
          grades 1 to 12, to provide for each needy student one  
          nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during  
          each schoolday  (Education Code § 49550)

           ANALYSIS
           
           This bill  requires school districts and county offices of  
          education to ensure that each of their schools provide  
          students adequate time to eat after being served a meal.   
          Specifically, this bill:

          1)   Requires school districts and county offices of  
               education to ensure that each of the schools in their  
               respective jurisdictions provides their students  
               adequate time to eat after being served.

          2)   States that the California Department of Education has  
               determined that adequate time to eat is 20 minutes  
               after being served lunch.

          3)   Requires a school, if it determines that it is not  
               providing students with adequate time to eat, to  
               coordinate with the school district or county office  




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               of education and develop and implement a plan to  
               increase students' time to eat beginning with the  
               2015-16 school year.

          4)   Authorizes a school district or county office of  
               education, to the extent that funds are available, to  
               use federally or state-regulated nonprofit school food  
               service cafeteria accounts to defray any allowable  
               costs from that funding source before considering  
               other funding streams.

          5)   States legislative findings and declarations relative  
               to nutritional standards and the need for adequate  
               time to eat.

           STAFF COMMENTS  

           1)   Guidance  .  The California Department of Education  
               (CDE) issued guidance to schools in January 2013,  
               recommending that each student has at least 10 minutes  
               for breakfast and at least 20 minutes for lunch after  
               being served. This guidance states that research  
               indicates that inadequate time to eat discourages  
               students from buying and eating complete lunches.  The  
               guidance further states that waiting in line is the  
               most commonly reported factor contributing to student  
               dissatisfaction with lunches.   
                http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/el/le/yr13ltr0125b.asp  

           2)   Survey results  .  According to the Assembly Education  
               Committee analysis of this bill, a 2013 survey  
               conducted by CDE of over 1,000 school principals found  
               that just under 25% of elementary schools and 8% of  
               middle/high schools had policies at the school or  
               district level specifying an amount of time that  
               students have to eat.  When asked to estimate the  
               amount of time the last student in line has to eat  
               during the lunch period, only 28% of elementary  
               principals and just under 45% of middle/high school  
               principals reported that students were provided at  
               least 20 minutes to eat.

           3)   Existing policy  .  In 2005, the governing board of the  
               Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) adopted  
               the Cafeteria Reform Motion, which set goals of  
               increasing student meal participation.  The LAUSD  




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               established guidelines which ensure the last child in  
               the food line be given no less than 20 minutes of seat  
               time to eat their meal at lunch, and 10 minutes of  
               seat time for breakfast.

           4)   Fiscal impact  .  According to the Assembly  
               Appropriations Committee, the prior version of this  
               bill would impose unknown General Fund (Proposition  
               98) state mandated costs, potentially in the hundreds  
               of thousands.  There are 9,919 schools in California.   
               Cost claims could include additional equipment and  
               system upgrades, staffing or expanding the school day  
               to meet an adequate time goal.  Actual costs will  
               depend on the size and types of claims districts  
               submit to the Commission on State Mandates to  
               implement this measure.

           SUPPORT  

          California Action for Healthy Kids
          California Convergence
          California Food Policy Advocates
          California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
          California School Employees Association
          California State PTA
          California Teachers Association
          Los Angeles Unified School District
          Orfalea Foundation
          Roots of Change
          School Food Initiative
          Two individuals

           OPPOSITION

           None on file.