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 that each of the schools in their
respective jurisdictions provides their pupils adequate time to eat after beingbegin delete served, in accordance with the relevant 2013 guidelines of the State Department of Education.end deletebegin insert served. The bill would declare that the State Department of Education specifies that an adequate time to eat is 20 minutes after being served lunch. The bill would require a school that determines it is not providing adequate time to eat to take specified actions.end 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.
The bill wouldbegin delete requireend deletebegin insert
specifyend insert
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 educationbegin delete first useend deletebegin insert may, to the extent that funds are available, useend insert federally or state-regulated nonprofit school food service cafeteria accounts to defray anybegin insert allowableend insert costsbegin delete that are allowableend delete from that fundingbegin delete source.end deletebegin insert source before considering other funding streams.end insert
The 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
P3 1investments are wasted if pupils do not eat lunch during the
2schoolday.
3(5) There are pupils across California--in elementary, middle,
4and high schools--who do not have enough time to eat lunch
5during the schoolday. When pressed for time, pupils often throw
6away portions of their lunches, buy less nutritious snacks instead
7of lunch, or skip lunch entirely, even when they are hungry.
8(6) Pupils who face long lines or short lunch periods are less
9likely to participate in the school lunch program at all.
10(b) Since California
requires that a nutritious free or
11reduced-price meal be made available to all low-income pupils
12enrolled in traditional K-12 public schools, and since pupils need
13enough time to eat lunch in order to reap the health and academic
14benefits of school meals, it is therefore the intent of the Legislature
15that schools provide pupils with adequate time to eat lunch during
16the schoolday.
Section 49550 of the Education Code is amended to
18read:
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a school district or
20county office of education maintaining kindergarten or any of
21grades 1 to 12, inclusive, shall provide for each needy pupil one
22nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each
23schoolday, except for family day care homes that shall be
24reimbursed for 75 percent of the meals served. School districts
25and county offices of education shall ensure that each of the schools
26in their respective jurisdictions provides their pupils adequate time
27to eat after beingbegin delete served, in accordance with the relevant 2013 begin insert
served. The department specifies
28guidelines of the department.end delete
29adequate time to eat as 20 minutes after being served lunch. If a
30school determines that it is currently not providing pupils with
31adequate time to eat, the school, in coordination with the school
32district or county office of education, shall develop and begin to
33implement a plan to increase pupils’ time to eat commencing with
34the 2015-16 school year.end insert
35(b) In order to comply with subdivision (a), a school district or
36county office of education may use funds that are available through
37any federal or state program the purpose of which includes the
38provision of meals to a pupil, including, but not necessarily limited
39to, the federal School Breakfast Program, the federal National
40School Lunch Program, the federal Summer Food Service Program,
P4 1the federal Seamless Summer Option, or the state meal program,
2or may do so at the expense of the school district or county office
3of
education.
4(c) In order to comply with the provision of subdivision (a)
5requiring adequate time for pupils to eat after being served, a school
6district or county office of educationbegin delete shall first useend deletebegin insert may, to the
7extent that funds are available, useend insert federally or state-regulated
8nonprofit school food service cafeteria accounts to defray any
9begin insert allowableend insert costsbegin delete that are allowableend delete from that fundingbegin delete source.end deletebegin insert
source
10before considering other funding streams.end insert
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
12this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
13local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
14pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
154 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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