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 AB 2449 Page 2 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 AB 2449 Page 3 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.