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 jurisdictions makes available to its pupils adequate time to eat after being served lunch. 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, to identify and develop a plan to implement, in consultation with the school district, ways to increase pupils’ time to eat lunch. 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 authoritybegin delete may, to the extent that funds are available, useend deletebegin insert
may use availableend insert federally or state-regulated nonprofit school food service cafeteria accounts to defray any costs allowable underbegin delete the federal National School Lunch Program and in accordance with that funding source before considering other funding streamsend deletebegin insert federal and state lawend insert.
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
P3 1resources to effectively implement these standards. These
2investments are wasted if pupils do not eat lunch during the
3schoolday.
4(5) There are pupils across California--in elementary, middle,
5and high schools--who do not have the recommended minimum
6time to eat lunch during the schoolday. When pressed for time,
7pupils often throw away portions of their lunches, buy less
8nutritious snacks instead of lunch, or skip lunch entirely, even
9when they are hungry.
10(6) Pupils who face long lines or short lunch periods are less
11likely
to participate in the school lunch program at all.
12(b) Since California requires that a nutritious free or
13reduced-price meal be made available to all low-income pupils
14enrolled in traditional K-12 public schools, and since pupils need
15enough time to eat lunch in order to reap the health and academic
16benefits of school meals, it is therefore the intent of the Legislature
17that schools provide pupils with adequate time to eat lunch during
18the schoolday.
Section 49550 of the Education Code is amended to
20read:
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a school district or
22county office of education maintaining kindergarten or any of
23grades 1 to 12, inclusive, shall provide for each needy pupil one
24nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each
25schoolday, except for family day care homes that shall be
26reimbursed for 75 percent of the meals served. School districts
27shall ensure that each of the schools in their respective jurisdictions
28makes available to its pupils adequate time to eat after being served
29lunch. The department specifies adequate time to eat school lunch
30as 20 minutes after being served. Upon annual review of its bell
31schedule, if a school determines that it is currently not providing
32
pupils with adequate time to eat, the school, in consultation with
33the school district, shall identify and develop a plan to implement
34ways to increase pupils’ time to eat lunch.
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,
2begin insert in accordance with the regulations that govern these programs,end insert
3 or may do so at the expense of the school district or county
office
4of education.
5(c) In order to comply with the provision of subdivision (a)
6requiring adequate time for pupils to eat after being served, the
7appropriate school food authority may, to the extent that funds are
8available, usebegin insert theend insert federally or state-regulated nonprofit school food
9service cafeteria accounts to defray any costs allowable underbegin delete the
10federal National School Lunch Program and in accordance with
11that funding source before considering other funding streams.end delete
12begin insert federal and state law.end insert
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
14this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
15local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
16pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
174 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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