Pupil nutrition: breakfast and lunch programs.

Existing law requires a school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide a needy pupil, as defined, one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday, and authorizes the school district or county superintendent of schools to use funds available from any federal program, including the federal School Breakfast Program, or state program to comply with that requirement, as provided. This bill would authorize a school district, county office of education, private nonprofit school, charter school, or residential child care institution, as defined, that participates in the federal School Breakfast Program, commencing with the 2019–20 school year, after submitting certain documentation to the State Department of Education for approval, to provide universal breakfast, to the maximum extent practicable. The bill would define "universal breakfast" to mean a nutritionally adequate breakfast that complies with, and qualifies for reimbursement under, the federal School Breakfast Program and that is provided to every pupil at no charge. Existing law imposes various requirements relating to the nutritional quality of meals and other food and drinks provided to pupils, including breakfasts and lunches provided to pupils using state funds and all food and drinks sold on public school campuses, as provided. Existing law requires the department to ensure that the nutrition levels of meals served to schoolage children pursuant to the federal National School Lunch Act be of the highest quality and greatest nutritional value possible. This bill would revise those nutritional quality requirements to require that those breakfasts and lunches qualify for reimbursement under, and other food and drinks sold on public school campuses are consistent with the requirements for, the most current meal pattern for the federal School Breakfast Program or the federal School Lunch Program, as specified. The bill would revise the requirement on the department to instead require the department to monitor schools participating in the federal National School Lunch Program or federal School Breakfast Program to ensure that the nutrition levels of meals qualify those meals for reimbursement under those same federal laws. Existing law authorizes the governing board of any school district to establish cafeterias in the schools under its jurisdiction, and authorizes the moneys received for the sale of food or for any services performed by the cafeterias to be paid into the county treasury to the credit of the cafeteria fund of the particular school district. Existing law requires the cafeteria fund to be used only for those expenditures authorized by the governing board of the school district that are defined in the California School Accounting Manual. This bill would authorize the governing board of a school district to authorize expenditures from the cafeteria fund or cafeteria account to provide universal breakfast. The bill would provide that the cost of purchasing a mobile food facility may be a charge against the cafeteria fund, upon prior approval by the department. The bill would require a local educational agency that uses federal reimbursements from any of the federal child nutrition programs to purchase a mobile food facility to use the mobile food facility only to support the administration of those federal child nutrition programs, and would require that a mobile food facility used for any purposes other than to support the administration of federal child nutrition programs be purchased entirely from funding sources other than the cafeteria fund. Existing law authorizes the department to award grants of up to $15,000 per schoolsite on a competitive basis to school districts, county superintendents of schools, or entities approved by the department, limited to an amount subject to budget appropriations each fiscal year, for nonrecurring expenses incurred in initiating or expanding specified school breakfast programs and summer food service programs. This bill would specify that the grants may be expended for a federal summer meals program, instead of a summer food service program.