BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1594
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 18, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1594 (Eng) - As Amended: April 10, 2012
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:6-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires a charter school to provide each needy pupil
with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal
during each schoolday. Further exempts online and non-classroom
based charter schools from this requirement.
FISCAL EFFECT
Increased GF/98 costs, of at least $500,000, to provide charter
schools with the state meal reimbursement funds. The State
Auditor identified 213 charter schools that were participating
in the school meal program in 2010. According to the State
Department of Education, approximately 812 million meals are
projected to be served in the 2011-12 school year. The per meal
reimbursement rates for the 2011-12 fiscal year are as follows:
-----------------------------------------------
| | Free |Reduced-Pric|
| | |e |
|----------------------+-----------+------------|
|Breakfast | | |
|----------------------+-----------+------------|
| Federal | $1.48 | $1.18 |
|----------------------+-----------+------------|
| State | $0.22 | $.022 |
|----------------------+-----------+------------|
|Lunch | | |
|----------------------+-----------+------------|
| Federal | | |
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|----------------------+-----------+------------|
| Schools that serve | $2.77 | $2.37 |
| less than 60% | | |
| free-reduced price | | |
| meals | | |
|----------------------+-----------+------------|
| Schools that serve | $2.79 | $2.39 |
| 60% or more | | |
| free-reduced price | | |
| meals | | |
|----------------------+-----------+------------|
| State | $0.22 |$0.22 |
-----------------------------------------------
COMMENTS
1)Background . Existing law requires each school district or
county office of education maintaining any of grades K-12 to
provide one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal
to a needy pupil during each schoolday. Statute further
defines "nutritionally adequate meal" as a breakfast or lunch
that qualifies for reimbursement under the federal child
nutrition program.
A charter school is a public school that may provide
instruction in any of grades K-12. It is usually created or
organized by a group of teachers, parents and community
leaders or a community-based organization. A charter school
may be authorized by an existing local public school board,
county board of education, or the State Board of Education.
Specific goals and operating procedures for the charter school
are detailed in an agreement (charter) between the sponsoring
board and charter organizers. A charter school is generally
exempt from most laws governing school districts, except where
specifically noted in the law. As such, charter schools are
not required to provide pupils with a nutritionally adequate
free or reduced-price meal.
According to the State Department of Education (SDE), there
were 919 charter schools with an enrollment of 375,358 pupils
in 2010-11.
2)Purpose . An October 2010 State Auditor report regarding
nutritional services provided at the state's charter schools
identified 815 charter schools active in California as of
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April 2010. The auditor concluded, "�Of this number], 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."
According to the author, "56.7 percent of the state's students
in traditional public schools were eligible for free and
reduced-price meals during the 2009-10 school year. In
comparison, 55.8 percent of the state's students in charter
schools were eligible for free or reduced-price meals during
the same year. Repeatedly, research has shown that school
meals matter. School meals help ensure that students receive
adequate nutrition, which is essential to the academic
achievement and overall well-being of all students. No
low-income student, whether attending a traditional public
school or charter school, should be without access to these
benefits."
This bill requires a charter school to provide each needy
pupil with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price
meal during each schoolday.
3)Some charter schools do not participate in the state meal
program . The State Auditor surveyed the remaining 213 schools
(of the 815 charter schools) to identify the reasons they do
not participate in the school breakfast or lunch program.
According to the report, "Of the 133 responses we received, 46
charter schools 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 report further revealed "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.
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In addition, the primary reason cited by 15, or 33%, 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."
4)Are charter schools eligible for mandate reimbursement ?
According to a May 2006 decision by the CSM, charter schools
are not eligible to claim mandate reimbursements. In denying
charter schools' mandate claims, the CSM repeatedly cites the
fact that charter schools are "voluntarily" created.
Furthermore, the CSM agrees with the following comments of the
Department of Finance: "Unlike school districts, charter
schools upon seeking to be chartered and upon having their
charter reauthorized every five years, operate optional
programs and thus choose to accept the State's requirements
for such operation. . . . The charter school is simply an
alternative to traditional public schools and are voluntarily
created and reauthorized."
The CSM further cites existing statute that does not define a
charter school as a school district. Specifically, it stated:
"Charter schools are not mentioned in the mandate statutes
(Government Code section 17500 et seq.), nor are they
considered "school districts" for purposes of mandate
reimbursements in the charter school statutes (Education Code
(EC) 47600 et seq.). Charter schools were established in
1992, long after the Commission's statutory scheme in 1984.
Although both statutory schemes have been amended in recent
years, the Legislature has not amended either scheme to make
charter schools eligible claimants."
5)Previous related legislation . AB 2954 (Liu) allowed charter
school authorizers to require charter schools to provide free
and reduced priced meals to students as a condition for
approval, as specified. The bill was vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger in September 2006 with the following message:
"Allowing school districts to require, as a condition of
approval, that the petition describe how the charter school
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will provide free and reduced-priced meals to eligible pupils
would simply provide districts with another pretext on which
to deny a 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."
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081