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 school districts, 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 jurisdictionsbegin delete provides theirend deletebegin insert
makes available to itsend insert pupils adequate time to eat after beingbegin delete served.end deletebegin insert served lunch.end insert The bill would declare that the State Department of Education specifies that an adequate time to eat school lunch is 20 minutes after being served. The bill would require a school that determines, upon annual review of its bell schedule, that it is currently not providing pupils with adequate time to eat, tobegin delete identify,end deletebegin insert identify and develop a plan to implement,end insert in consultation with the school district, ways to increase pupils’ time tobegin delete eat.end deletebegin insert
eat lunch.end insert To the extent this requirement would create new duties for schools and school districts, 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, the appropriate school food authority may, to the extent that funds are available, use federally or state-regulated nonprofit school food service cafeteria accounts to defray any costs allowable under the federal National School Lunch Program and in accordance with 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:
(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.
Section 49550 of the Education Code is amended to
19read:
(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
26shall ensure that each of the schools in their respective jurisdictions
27begin delete provides theirend deletebegin insert makes available to itsend insert pupils adequate time to eat
28after beingbegin delete served.end deletebegin insert
served lunch.end insert The department specifies adequate
29time to eat school lunch as 20 minutes after being served. Upon
30annual review of its bell schedule, if a school determines that it is
31currently not providing pupils with adequate time to eat, the school,
32in consultation with the school district, shall identifybegin insert and develop
33a plan to implementend insert ways to increase pupils’ time tobegin delete eat.end deletebegin insert eat lunch.end insert
34(b) In order to comply with subdivision (a), a school district or
35county office of education may use funds that are available through
36any federal
or state program the purpose of which includes the
37provision of meals to a pupil, including, but not necessarily limited
38to, the federal School Breakfast Program, the federal National
39School Lunch Program, the federal Summer Food Service Program,
40the federal Seamless Summer Option, or the state meal program,
P4 1or may do so at the expense of the school district or county office
2of education.
3(c) In order to comply with the provision of subdivision (a)
4requiring adequate time for pupils to eat after being served, the
5appropriate school food authority may, to the extent that funds are
6available, use federally or state-regulated nonprofit school food
7service cafeteria accounts to defray any costs allowable under the
8federal National School Lunch Program and in accordance with
9that funding source before considering other funding
streams.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
11this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
12local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
13pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
144 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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