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.