49550.3.
(a) Because a hungry child cannot learn, the Legislature intends, as a state nutrition and health policy, that the federal School Breakfast Program be made available in all schools where it is needed to provide adequate nutrition for children in attendance.(b) The department, in cooperation with school districts and county superintendents of schools, shall provide information and limited financial assistance to encourage program startup and expansion into all qualified schools, as follows:
(1) Provide information to school districts and county superintendents of schools concerning the benefits and availability of
the federal School Breakfast Program.
(2) Each year, provide additional information and financial assistance to schools in the state, in which 20 percent or more of the school enrollment consists of children who have applied and qualify for free and reduced-price meals.
(c) The department shall award grants of up to thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) 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 a school breakfast program under this section or a federal summer meals program, including the summer food service program pursuant to Article 10.7 (commencing with Section
49547) and the Seamless Summer Option component of the federal National School Lunch Program.
(d) Grants awarded under this section shall be used for nonrecurring costs of initiating or expanding a school breakfast program or a federal summer meals program, including the acquisition of equipment, training of staff in new capacities, outreach efforts to publicize new or expanded school breakfast programs or federal summer meals programs, minor alterations to accommodate new equipment, computer point-of-service systems for food service, and the purchase of vehicles for transporting food to schools. Funds may not be used for salaries and benefits of staff, food, computers, except computer point-of-service systems, or capital outlay.
(e) In making grant awards under this section in
any fiscal year, the department shall give a preference to school districts and county superintendents of schools that do all of the following:
(1) Submit to the department a plan to start or expand school breakfast programs or federal summer meals programs in the school district or the county, including a description of the following:
(A) The manner in which the school district or county superintendent of schools will provide technical assistance and funding to schoolsites to expand those programs.
(B) Detailed information on the nonrecurring expenses needed to initiate a program.
(C) Public or private resources that have been assembled to carry out
expansion of these programs during that year.
(2) Agree to operate the school breakfast program or the federal summer meals program for a period of not less than three years.
(3) Assure that the expenditure of funds from state and local resources for the maintenance of the school breakfast program or the federal summer meals program shall not be diminished as a result of grant awards received under this section.
(f) (1) For purposes of this subdivision, the following definitions apply:
(A) “Cafeteria fund” means the nonprofit school food service account, as defined in Section 210.2 of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(B) “Educational entity” means a school district, county superintendent of schools, office of education, private nonprofit school, or charter school. school, or residential child care institution, as defined in Section 210.2 of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations within the definition of “school.”
(C) “Universal breakfast” means 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.
(2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), commencing Commencing with the 2019–20 school year, an educational entity that participates in the federal School Breakfast Program may, to the maximum extent practicable, provide universal breakfast. An
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), an educational entity that seeks to use the cafeteria fund to supplement meal cost costs for universal breakfast shall submit to the department for approval before implementing universal breakfast pursuant to this subdivision, on or before July 1 of each year, an application, signed by the educational entity’s governing board or governing body, certifying that the educational entity will provide breakfasts at no charge to all pupils and cover with nonfederal funds any costs of providing those breakfasts to all pupils above the amount provided in federal assistance.
(B) The requirement
to submit an application to the department in subparagraph (A) does not apply to educational entities that, as of January 1, 2018, participate in Provision 1, 2, or 3, or the Community Eligibility Provision of the federal Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1751 et seq.).
(3) Contributions that are a direct support of universal breakfast may be used to offset operation costs. These contributions may include:
(A) Funds from the cafeteria fund.
(B) Funds provided to support universal breakfast by organizations, including, but not limited to, school-related and community groups or by the city, county, city and county, or state.
(g) A grant awarded under this section may be used to implement a school breakfast program that serves breakfast after the start of the schoolday.