BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 292 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 15, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 292 (Santiago) - As Amended April 7, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Education |Vote:|5 - 1 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: Yes SUMMARY: This bill requires school districts to ensure that each school in their jurisdiction make available to students, adequate time to eat after being served lunch. Specifically, this bill: AB 292 Page 2 1)Declares that the California Department of Education (CDE) specifies adequate time to eat school lunch as 20 minutes after being served. 2)Specifies that upon annual review of the bell schedule, if a school determines that it is currently not providing pupils with adequate time to eat, the school, in consultation with the district, shall identify and develop a plan to implement ways to increase pupils' time to eat lunch. 3)Authorizes the appropriate school food authority, to the extent that funds are available, to use federally or state-regulated nonprofit school food service cafeteria accounts to defray any costs allowable under the federal National School Lunch Program in accordance with that funding source before considering other funding streams. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown GF/P98 state mandated costs, potentially in excess of $1 million. There are over 1,000 school districts that oversee 9,919 schools in California. Costs claims could include staff time to develop and implement a plan as well as monitoring and data collection to ensure each school is providing adequate time to eat lunch. Depending on the plan, districts may need to purchase equipment and make system upgrades; provide additional points of service or expand 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. COMMENTS: Purpose. According to the author, lunch periods provide a much-needed time for students to take a break and refuel their AB 292 Page 3 bodies. For many low-income students, school lunch may be the most nutritious meal of the day. However, California students frequently miss out on the full benefits of school lunch because they don't have enough time to eat. This bill seeks to remedy this issue be requiring districts to ensure there is adequate time to eat lunch. What is adequate time? The bill states that CDE specifies adequate time to eat school lunch is 20 minutes after being served. It is not clear if this is intended to be a guide or a requirement. Currently several districts are the subject of a class-action lawsuit related to documentation of compliance with the 200 minute physical education requirement. Districts will need clarity around the adequate time requirements and the expected documentation to prove compliance. Without such guidance, districts may be subject to litigation challenging non-compliance. Offsetting costs. The California Department of Education (CDE) administers the National School Lunch Program, a federally assisted meal program operating in over 100,000 public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. Federal funds provide the majority of funding for school nutrition programs in California. According to a recent state audit of child nutrition funding, in fiscal year 2011-12, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provided 92% of the funding for the child nutrition programs, or $1.7 billion, and the state provided the remaining 8%, or $148 million. The National School Lunch Program is the largest component of the child nutrition programs, accounting for more than $1.3 billion-or roughly 77%-of the $1.7 billion in federal funds spent in fiscal year 2011-12. This bill authorizes school districts to use federally or state-regulated nonprofit school food service cafeteria accounts to defray any costs allowable under the federal National School Lunch Program in accordance with that funding source before considering other funding streams. CDE is concerned that AB 292 Page 4 encouraging districts to look to their cafeteria account before considering other funding sources could compromise the financial integrity of the cafeteria account and lead to conflict with current CDE policies regarding allowable cafeteria fund charges. Additionally, CDE notes this could put unexpected stress on district general fund sources if disallowed charges to the cafeteria fund are found during a review or audit. CDE recommends the bill be amended to clarify the funds are to be used in accordance with regulations that govern these programs. Prior Legislation. AB 2449 (Bocanegra) (2014) was substantially similar to this bill and required school districts and county offices of education (COEs) to ensure that each of their schools provide students adequate time to eat after being served a meal. This bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916) 319-2081