Amended in Assembly March 18, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 292


Introduced by Assembly Member Santiago

February 11, 2015


An act to amend Section 49550 of the Education Code, relating to pupil nutrition.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 292, as amended, Santiago. Pupil nutrition: free or reduced-price meals: adequate time to eat.

(1) Existing law requires each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal for each needy pupil during each schoolday, except as specified. Existing law authorizes a school district or county office of education to use funds made available through any applicable federal or state program or to use its own funds to provide the required meals.

This bill would express legislative intent that schools provide pupils with adequate time to eat lunch during the schoolday. The bill would require schoolbegin delete districts and county offices of education,end deletebegin insert districts,end insert in addition to providing a nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal for each needy pupil each schoolday, to ensure that each of the schools in their respective jurisdictions provides their pupils adequate time to eat after being served. The bill would declare that the State Department of Education specifies that an adequate time to eatbegin insert school lunchend insert is 20 minutes after being served. The bill would require a school thatbegin delete determinesend deletebegin insert determines, upon annual review of its bell schedule, thatend insert it is currently not providing pupils with adequate time tobegin delete eatend deletebegin insert eat,end insert tobegin delete take specified actions.end deletebegin insert identify, in consultation with the school district, ways to increase pupils’ time to eat.end insert To the extent this requirement would create new duties forbegin insert schools andend insert schoolbegin delete districts and county offices of education,end deletebegin insert districts,end insert it would constitute a state-mandated local program.

The bill would specify that, in order to comply with its requirements requiring adequate time for pupils to eat after being served,begin delete a school district or county office of educationend deletebegin insert the appropriate school food authorityend insert may, to the extent that funds are available, use federally or state-regulated nonprofit school food service cafeteria accounts to defray anybegin insert costsend insert allowablebegin delete costs fromend deletebegin insert under the federal National School Lunch Program and in accordance withend insert that funding source before considering other funding streams.

The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:

3(1) Healthy eating is vital to learning and cognitive development.
4When children miss out on nutritious meals during the schoolday,
5they cannot learn, grow, or achieve at their full potential.

6(2) School meal programs help ensure that children have access
7to adequate nutrients and develop healthy eating behaviors.

8(3) Lunchtime is an essential part of the schoolday, supporting
9children’s academic success along with their physical, social, and
10emotional well-being.

11(4) The federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010
12substantially improved the nutritional standards of the federal
13National School Lunch Program. California has invested significant
14resources to effectively implement these standards. These
P3    1investments are wasted if pupils do not eat lunch during the
2schoolday.

3(5) There are pupils across California--in elementary, middle,
4and high schools--who do not have the recommended minimum
5time to eat lunch during the schoolday. When pressed for time,
6pupils often throw away portions of their lunches, buy less
7nutritious snacks instead of lunch, or skip lunch entirely, even
8when they are hungry.

9(6) Pupils who face long lines or short lunch periods are less
10likely to participate in the school lunch program at all.

11(b) Since California requires that a nutritious free or
12reduced-price meal be made available to all low-income pupils
13enrolled in traditional K-12 public schools, and since pupils need
14enough time to eat lunch in order to reap the health and academic
15benefits of school meals, it is therefore the intent of the Legislature
16that schools provide pupils with adequate time to eat lunch during
17the schoolday.

18

SEC. 2.  

Section 49550 of the Education Code is amended to
19read:

20

49550.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a school district or
21county office of education maintaining kindergarten or any of
22grades 1 to 12, inclusive, shall provide for each needy pupil one
23nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each
24schoolday, except for family day care homes that shall be
25reimbursed for 75 percent of the meals served. School districts
26begin delete and county offices of educationend delete shall ensure that each of the schools
27in their respective jurisdictions provides their pupils adequate time
28to eat after being served. The department specifies adequate time
29to eatbegin insert school lunchend insert as 20 minutes after being served.begin delete Ifend deletebegin insert Upon
30annual review of its bell schedule, ifend insert
a school determines that it is
31currently not providing pupils with adequate time to eat, thebegin delete schoolend delete
32begin insert school, end insertbegin insertin consultation with the school district,end insert shallbegin delete beginend deletebegin insert identify
33waysend insert
to increase pupils’ time tobegin delete eat commencing with the 2016-17
34school year.end delete
begin insert eat.end insert

35(b) In order to comply with subdivision (a), a school district or
36county office of education may use funds that are available through
37any federal or state program the purpose of which includes the
38provision of meals to a pupil, including, but not necessarily limited
39to, the federal School Breakfast Program, the federal National
40School Lunch Program, the federal Summer Food Service Program,
P4    1the federal Seamless Summer Option, or the state meal program,
2or may do so at the expense of the school district or county office
3of education.

4(c) In order to comply with the provision of subdivision (a)
5requiring adequate time for pupils to eat after being served,begin delete a school
6district or county office of educationend delete
begin insert the appropriate school food
7authorityend insert
may, to the extent that funds are available, use federally
8or state-regulated nonprofit school food service cafeteria accounts
9to defray anybegin insert costsend insert allowablebegin delete costs fromend deletebegin insert under the federal National
10School Lunch Program and in accordance withend insert
that funding source
11before considering other funding streams.

12

SEC. 3.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
13this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
14local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
15pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
164 of Title 2 of the Government Code.



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