Amended  IN  Senate  June 18, 2019
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 20, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 354
Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk-Silva
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry)

February 04, 2019

An act to amend Sections 47613.5 and 49550 of, and to add Section 49555 to, the Education Code, relating to school meals.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 354, as amended, Quirk-Silva. School meals: 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, and, commencing with the 2019–20 school year, each charter school, to provide each needy pupil with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday. Existing law authorizes a school district or county office of education, in order to comply with that requirement, to use funds made available through any federal or state program the purpose of which includes the provision of meals to a pupil, including, among other programs, the federal School Breakfast Program and the federal National School Lunch Program, or to provide those meals at the expense of the school district or county office of education.
This bill would require a school district, county office of education, or charter school that does not participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and or the federal School Breakfast Program to provide adequate space for children to consume those meals. The bill would require such a school district, county office of education, or charter school to annually report to the State Department of Education an alternative meal program each of its schoolsites will follow to ensure that each needy pupil is provided with a free or reduced-price meal, and would require the department to provide a form to report this information. The bill would require the department to conduct onsite reviews of schoolsites to verify a school district’s, county office of education’s, or charter school’s compliance with the federal meal benefit issuance requirements and meal pattern regulations under the federal National School Lunch Program and or the federal School Breakfast Program. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature the results of the onsite reviews and a list of noncompliant schoolsites. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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 the statutory provisions noted above.
Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  
Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 47613.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:
47613.5. (a) A charter school shall provide each needy pupil, as defined in Section 49552, with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 49553, during each schoolday.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a charter school that offers nonclassroom-based instruction, as defined in Section 47612.5, shall meet the requirements of this section for any eligible pupil on any schoolday that the pupil is scheduled for educational activities, as defined in Section 49010, lasting two or more hours, at a schoolsite, resource center, meeting space, or other satellite facility operated by the charter school.
(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a charter school shall implement this section commencing with the 2019–20 school year.
(2) A charter school that becomes operational on or after July 1, 2019, shall do both of the following:
(A) Implement this section no later than July 1 of the school year after becoming operational.
(B) Provide written notification disclosing the period of time for which the charter school will not implement subdivision (a). The written notice shall be provided at the time of application for enrollment in the charter school, school to the parent or guardian of each pupil or, if the pupil is a foster child or youth or a homeless child or youth, the pupil’s educational rights holder. The written notice shall be provided in languages other than English, consistent with languages used for the charter school enrollment application.
(d) The chartering authority shall, upon request by a charter school and to the extent feasible within existing resources, provide technical assistance to the charter school in implementing this section.
(e) A charter school may enter into a partnership with an existing school food authority for purposes of implementing this section.
(f) A charter school that does not participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and or the federal School Breakfast Program shall provide adequate space for pupils to consume meals provided pursuant to this section.
SEC. 2. Section 49550 of the Education Code is amended to read:
49550. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, shall provide for each needy pupil one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday, except for family day care homes that shall be reimbursed for 75 percent of the meals served.
(b) A school district or county office of education that does not participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and or the federal School Breakfast Program shall provide adequate space for pupils to consume meals provided pursuant to this section.
(c) In order to comply with subdivision (a), a school district or county office of education may use funds made available through any federal or state program the purpose of which includes the provision of meals to a pupil, including the federal School Breakfast Program, the federal National School Lunch Program, the federal Summer Food Service Program, the federal Seamless Summer Option, or the state meal program, or may do so at the expense of the school district or county office of education.
SEC. 3. Section 49555 is added to the Education Code, to read:
49555. (a) A school district, county office of education, or charter school that does not participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and or the federal School Breakfast Program shall report to the department by October 1 of each year the alternative meal program each of its schoolsites will follow to ensure that each needy pupil is provided with a free or reduced-price meal pursuant to Section 47613.5 or 49550, as applicable.
(b) By the beginning of the 2020–21 school year, the department shall provide a form for a school district, county office of education, or charter school to submit its alternative meal program report pursuant to subdivision (a).
(c) A school district, county office of education, or charter school shall include the following information for each of its schoolsites in a report submitted pursuant to subdivision (a):
(1) School district or county office of education name, or in the case of a charter school, the name of either the chartering authority or the entity managing the charter school.
(2) Schoolsite name.
(3) Whether the local educational agency is a school district, county office of education, or charter school.
(4) County-District-School (CDS) Code.
(5) Total pupil enrollment at the schoolsite.
(6) Total number of pupils eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals at the schoolsite.
(d) The department shall complete a menu certification and nutrient analysis of menus to verify the compliance of a school district, county office of education, or charter school subject to subdivision (a) with the federal meal pattern regulations under the federal National School Lunch Program and or the federal School Breakfast Program.
(e) Commencing with the 2021–22 school year, the department shall conduct onsite reviews of schoolsites of school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools subject to subdivision (a) to verify compliance with federal meal benefit issuance requirements and federal meal pattern regulations under the federal National School Lunch Program and or the federal School Breakfast Program. The onsite review shall adhere to the federal administrative review selection requirements and review schedule under the federal National School Lunch Program and or the federal School Breakfast Program.
(f) On or before March 15, 2022, and annually thereafter, the department shall submit to the Legislature Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code Code, a report containing the results of that the preceding school year’s onsite reviews and a list of noncompliant schoolsites.
SEC. 4. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.