AB 2449, as amended, Bocanegra. 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 and county offices of education, in addition to providing a nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal for each needy pupil each schoolday, to ensure thatbegin delete there isend deletebegin insert
each of the schools in their respective jurisdictions provides their pupilsend insert adequate time to eatbegin delete the meal after it isend deletebegin insert after beingend insert servedbegin insert, in accordance with the relevant 2013 guidelines of the State Department of Educationend insert. To the extent this requirement would create new duties for school districts and county offices of education, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.begin delete Theend delete
The bill would require that, in order to comply with its requirements requiring adequate time for pupils to eat after being served, a school district or county office of education first use federally or state-regulated nonprofit school food service cafeteria accounts to defray any costs that are allowable from that funding source.
end insertbegin insertTheend insert bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to this provision.
(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, they cannot learn,
5grow, or achieve at their full potential.
6(2) Because children spend at least 175 days per year at school,
7school meal programs can help ensure that children have access
8to adequate nutrients and develop healthy eating behaviors.
9(3) Mealtimes are an essential part of the schoolday, supporting
10childrens’ academic
success along with their physical, social, and
11emotional well-being.
12(4) The federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010
13substantially improved the nutritional standards of the National
14School Lunch Program. California has invested significant
15resources to effectively implement these standards. These
16investments are wasted if pupils do not eat lunch during the
17schoolday.
18(5) There are pupils across California--in elementary, middle,
19and high schools--who do not have enough time to eat lunch
20during the schoolday. When pressed for time, pupils often throw
21away portions of their lunches, buy less nutritious snacks instead
22of lunch, or skip lunch entirely, even when they are hungry.
P3 1(6) Pupils who face long lines or
short lunch periods are less
2likely to participate in the school lunch program at all.
3(b) Since California requires that a nutritious free or
4reduced-price meal be made available to all low-income pupils
5enrolled in traditional K-12 public schools, and since pupils need
6enough time to eat lunch in order to reap the health and academic
7benefits of school meals, it is therefore the intent of the Legislature
8that schools provide pupils with adequate time to eat lunch during
9the schoolday.
Section 49550 of the Education Code is amended to
11read:
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a school district or
13county office of education maintaining kindergarten or any of
14grades 1 to 12, inclusive, shall provide for each needy pupil one
15nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each
16schooldaybegin delete and ensure that there is adequate time to eat the meal , except for family day care homes that shall be
17after it is servedend delete
18reimbursed for 75 percent of the meals served.begin insert School districts
19and county offices of education shall ensure that each of the
20schools in their respective jurisdictions provides their pupils
21adequate
time to eat after being served, in accordance with the
22relevant 2013 guidelines of the department.end insert
23(b) In order to comply with subdivision (a), a school district or
24county office of education may use fundsbegin delete madeend deletebegin insert that areend insert available
25through any federal or state program the purpose of which includes
26the provision of meals to a pupil, includingbegin insert, but not necessarily
27limited to,end insert the federal School Breakfast Program, the federal
28National School Lunch Program, the federal Summer Food Service
29Program, the federal Seamless Summer Option, or the state meal
30program, or may do so at
the expense of the school district or
31county office of education.
32(c) In order to comply with the provision of subdivision (a)
33requiring adequate time for pupils to eat after being served, a
34school district or county office of education shall first use federally
35or state-regulated nonprofit school food service cafeteria accounts
36to defray any costs that are allowable from that funding source.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
38this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
39local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
P4 1pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
24 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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