BILL NUMBER: AB 1449	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Lopez

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act relating to pupil nutrition.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1449, as introduced, Lopez. Pupil nutrition: prepackaged meals
for pupils eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
   Existing law requires each school district or county
superintendent of schools maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1
to 12, inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil one nutritionally
adequate free or reduced-price meal during each school day, as
specified, and authorizes a school district or county office of
education to use funds available through any federal or state program
for those purposes, as specified.
   This bill would express the Legislature's intent to enact
legislation that would enable schools that are not eligible for
federal Title I funds to provide prepackaged meals to pupils
attending the school who are eligible for free or reduced-price
meals.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) A needy child who transfers from a school supported with funds
authorized under Title I of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of
2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) to a better performing school that
is not supported by Title I funds may lose access to free or
reduced-price school breakfast.
   (2) Often these children are caught between a rock and a hard
place and end up trying to learn on an empty stomach. Although these
children may continue to be eligible to receive a free or
reduced-price breakfast at the school from which the child
transferred, the reality is an overwhelming number of these children
do not have the luxury of squeezing in the extra travel time each
morning.
   (3) Extra kitchen staff or extra staff time is expensive. However,
having prepackaged foods that do not require onsite preparation
reduces demands upon school staff.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that
would enable schools that are not eligible for funds authorized under
Title I of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to provide
prepackaged meals to pupils who are eligible for free or
reduced-price meals.