BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1594
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 28, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 1594 (Eng) - As Introduced: February 6, 2012
SUBJECT : Charter schools: pupil nutrition.
SUMMARY : Requires a charter school to provide each needy pupil
with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal, that
qualifies for reimbursement under the federal child nutrition
program regulations, each schoolday. Specifically, this bill :
1)Exempts charter schools that only offer nonclassroom-based
instruction from the requirement to provide a free or
reduced-price meal each school day.
2)Makes findings and declarations regarding the importance of
school meals in supporting the academic achievement and
overall well-being of students.
EXISTING LAW requires all K-12 schools to provide one
nutritionally adequate meal, that qualifies for reimbursement
under the federal child nutrition program regulations, to all
students eligible for free and reduced-price meals and exempts
charter schools from this requirement. (Education Code 49550)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Charter School Background : According to the
California Department of Education (CDE), there are currently
983 charter schools operating with student enrollment from
2010-11 of more than 369,000 in the state. This includes three
statewide benefit charters and 18 State Board of Education
(SBE)-approved charters. Some charter schools are new, while
others are conversions from existing public schools. Charter
schools are part of the state's public education system and are
funded by public dollars. A charter school is usually created
or organized by a group of teachers, parents and community
leaders, a community-based organization, or an education
management organization. Charter schools are authorized by
school district boards, county boards of education or the state
board of education. A charter school is generally exempt from
most laws governing school districts, except where specifically
noted in the law.
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Existing law requires all K-12 schools to provide one
nutritionally adequate meal, that qualifies for reimbursement
under the federal child nutrition program regulations, to all
students eligible for free and reduced-price meals. Public
schools and districts across California are bound by this
requirement, also known as the "State Meal Mandate," but the
majority also choose to participate in NSLP and the School
Breakfast Program (SBP), so they can feed all their students
(not just those eligible for free/reduced-price meals), and
receive federal and state reimbursement for all meals served,
and federal commodities. Charter schools, however, are exempt
from the "State Meal Mandate" requirement. While many charter
schools provide an education to students who qualify for free
and reduced priced meals, many charter schools do not provide
meals to the children. This bill would require charter schools,
with the exception of schools that only provide nonclassroom
based instruction, to provide a meal during the schoolday to
students who are eligible for free and reduced priced meals.
According to the author, the California State Auditor recently
reviewed California charter schools in an effort to gain a
broader understanding of how charter schools are meeting the
nutritional needs of students, particularly low-income students.
The audit suggests that a significant number of charter schools
currently provide meals via the NSLP and SBP, while a number of
charter schools serve meals without utilizing the federal
nutrition programs and others provide no meals at all. Of the
schools that did not participate in NSLP and SBP, some adjusted
the price of meals for low-income students while others did not.
The results of the audit indicate that it is feasible for
California charter schools to provide meals, including meals for
free and reduced-price eligible students.
State Auditor's Report : According to the State Auditor's
October 2010 report on Charter Schools, "Despite the limitations
of Education's data, we were able to identify 815 charter
schools active in California as of April 2010. According to the
data, 451 were participating in the breakfast or lunch program
and an additional 151 were providing instruction to their
students outside the classroom, either online or independently,
and thus do not provide meals. We surveyed the remaining 213
charter schools to identify those that provide an alternative
meal program and those that do not provide meals to their
students. Of the 133 responses we received, 46 charter schools
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stated that they offer their students an alternative meal
program, 39 stated that they do not provide meals to their
students, 41 stated that they were in fact participating in the
programs, and four stated that they provide instruction based
outside the classroom. In addition, three charter schools stated
that they do not provide meals to students or participate in the
breakfast and lunch programs because their students are age 18
or older and are not eligible to participate in the programs.
The 46 charter schools responding to the survey that provide an
alternative meal program have varying methods of providing
meals, ranges of meal costs, and reasons for offering an
alternative meal program. Most of these schools either have
their staff prepare and deliver the meals or hire contractors to
do so. The students at these charter schools paid between 50
cents and $5 for their meals. In addition, the primary reason
cited by 15, or 33 percent, of these schools for having an
alternative meal program is to allow them to provide what they
described as fresher, healthier food choices to their students
than the breakfast or lunch program provides. Some of these
charter schools stated that they provide meals that meet or
exceed the USDA's nutritional standards. Generally, these
charter schools believe that the nutritional needs of their
students, including low-income students, are being met.
As mentioned previously, state law does not require charter
schools to provide each needy student with one nutritionally
adequate free or reduced-price meal during each school day. The
39 charter schools that do not provide meals to their students
gave various reasons for not participating in the breakfast and
lunch programs and not providing an alternative meal. The
primary reason was lack of a kitchen, cafeteria, or other
facility to prepare and deliver meals to their students. Another
reason commonly cited was a lack of funding and staffing to
operate an alternative meal program or participate in the
breakfast and lunch programs. Generally, however, these charter
schools believe that the nutritional needs of their students,
including their low-income students, are being met. Many of the
schools stated that their students bring lunch from home. We
also found that some of these charter schools inform parents via
handbooks that can be found on their Web sites that they do not
provide meals. Thus, when parents choose to pack their
children's lunch and schools make parents aware of the fact that
they do not provide meals, it becomes the parents'
responsibility to ensure that their children's nutritional needs
AB 1594
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are met."
Committee Amendment : To clarify that online charter schools are
also exempt from the provisions of the bill, staff recommends an
amendment to specify that the bill does not apply to a charter
school that only offers instruction online.
Arguments in Support : The California Food Policy Advocates
supports the bill and states, "AB 1594 should be viewed as an
opportunity to advance the mission of charter schools and
support the well-being and academic achievement of students
attending them. Parents and students should not have to leave
an essential resource behind when making the decision to attend
a charter school. Access to school meals should be available to
all low-income students regardless of whether they attend a
traditional public school or charter school."
Arguments in Opposition : The California Charter Schools
Association Advocates opposes the bill and states, "AB 1594
begins with an unspoken and unfortunate premise, that some
charter schools do not provide a meal to low-income children
because they choose not to. Such a premise does not acknowledge
or account for the profound challenges some charter schools have
in providing a meal program. If enacted, the bill would place
many charter schools in an impossible situation: requiring a
service without the resources to provide that service."
Previous Legislation : AB 2954 (Liu) from 2006, which was vetoed
by the Governor, allowed charter school authorizers to require
charter schools to provide free and reduced priced meals to
students as a condition for approval, among other things. The
bill was vetoed with the following message:
While I understand the plight of school districts faced
with fiscal challenges of declining enrollment and other
management issues, I cannot condone allowing them to deny
parents and students their rights to petition for the
establishment of a charter school. In essence, this bill
would grant school districts the authority to punish
charter petitioners because of problems caused by their own
fiscal management issues or their unwillingness to make
tough decisions, or both. In addition, allowing school
districts to require, as a condition of approval, that the
petition describe how the charter school will provide free
and reduced-priced meals to eligible pupils would simply
provide districts with another pretext on which to deny a
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charter. Charter schools are generally exempt from most
laws and regulations governing school districts and they
should continue to be exempt from this one. In sum, this
bill runs counter to the intent of charter schools, which
is to provide parents and students with other options
within the public school system and to stimulate
competition that improves the quality not only of charter
schools, but of non-charter schools as well.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Food Policy Advocates (Sponsor)
Alameda County Community Food Bank
California Association of Food Banks
California Communities United Institute
California School Boards Association
California School Employees Association
Feeding America San Diego
Hand Up Student Advisory Board
Hunger Action Los Angeles
Hunger Advocacy Network
Interfaith Community Services
Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank
Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles
Marin Food Bank
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
Orange County Food Bank
Regional Taskforce on Homelessness
San Francisco Food Bank
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Opposition
California Charter Schools Association Advocates
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087