Amended
IN
Senate
March 20, 2023 |
Introduced by Senator Skinner (Coauthors: Senators Archuleta, Gonzalez, Hurtado, Ochoa Bogh, and Wahab) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Berman, Bonta, and Luz Rivas) |
February 08, 2023 |
(2)
(3)
The Superintendent shall make allowances for child nutrition as follows:
(a)Reimbursement of child nutrition entities, as defined by Section 49530.5, for all free and reduced-price meals, pursuant to Section 49536.
(b)Reimbursement of school districts for the difference between the current fiscal year median statewide lunch or breakfast cost for all free and reduced-price meals required by Section 49550 as determined by the Superintendent and the combined total income per meal derived from pupil charges, federal funds, and state funds as provided in Article 11 (commencing with Section 49550) of Chapter 9 of Part 27.
(c)Reimbursement of county superintendents of schools for the difference between the current fiscal year median statewide lunch or breakfast cost for all free and reduced-price meals as determined by the Superintendent and the combined total income per meal derived from pupil charges, federal funds, and state funds as provided in Article 11 (commencing with Section 49550) of Chapter 9 of Part 27.
The combined state and federal reimbursements shall not exceed the current fiscal year median statewide lunch or breakfast cost. If the combined pupil charges, state reimbursements, and federal reimbursements exceed the current median statewide lunch or breakfast costs, the federal funds shall be expended prior to the expenditure of any state funds.
For purposes of this article a pupil who is “needy” is one who meets the definition in Section 49552.
As
used in this article “school meals” includes breakfasts, lunches, or the serving of foods or beverages, or both, during other nutrition periods, or any combination thereof.
The governing board of any school district may, for purposes of Section 49500, establish rules by which to determine which pupils are needy except for family day care homes which shall be reimbursed for 75 percent of the meals served. For purposes of this article, any pupil within the category of children eligible for aid or services under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code shall be deemed needy.
The amendments to this section enacted by the Legislature in the 1981 portion of the 1981–82 Regular Session of the Legislature shall apply retroactively to July 1, 1981, to the extent that they may legally do so.
(ii)
The funds
In order to encourage the development of a sense of fiscal responsibility among the pupils participating in the school meal program, a nominal cash payment for school meals provided under this article may be required of all pupils except those eligible for free meals. Such payments shall be related to the income of the pupil’s family.
Funds received from payments by participating pupils shall be used to expand the programs under this article.
(3)
(e)A local educational agency shall notify a parent or guardian of the negative balance of a pupil’s school meal account no later than 10 days after the pupil’s school meal account has reached a negative balance. Before sending this notification to the parent or guardian, the local educational agency shall exhaust all options and methods to directly certify the pupil for free or reduced-price meals. If the local educational agency is not able to directly certify the pupil, the local educational agency shall provide the parent or guardian with a paper copy of, or an electronic link to, an application with the notification and contact the parent or
guardian to encourage application submission.
(f)To the extent that the expense is reimbursable under the federal National School Lunch Program, a local educational agency shall reimburse school meal fees paid by a pupil’s parent or guardian when fees were paid or unpaid fees debt accrued during any time that the pupil would have been determined, as identified by the local educational agency’s review pursuant to subdivision (e), to be eligible for free or reduced-price school meals.
(g)Nothing in this section is intended to allow for the indefinite accrual of unpaid school meal fees.
(h)