Bill Text: CA ACR143 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Concurrent Resolution 143

Bill Title: School Breakfast Week.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 57-16)

Status: (Passed) 2024-04-02 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 31, Statutes of 2024. [ACR143 Detail]

Download: California-2023-ACR143-Chaptered.html

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 143

CHAPTER 31

Relative to School Breakfast Week.

[ Filed with Secretary of State April 02, 2024. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

ACR 143, Bennett. School Breakfast Week.

This measure would proclaim March 4, 2024, to March 8, 2024, inclusive, as School Breakfast Week.

Fiscal Committee: NO

WHEREAS, Nearly one in five California children live in food insecure households, meaning they do not have consistent access to adequate food; and

WHEREAS, California ranks 33rd in the nation in school breakfast participation, and only 39 percent of pupils who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals are eating school breakfast; and

WHEREAS, More than 58 percent of California public school pupils qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, yet many of those low-income pupils are not eating the nutritious school breakfast offered due to barriers such as social stigma, late buses or carpools, long cafeteria lines, and tight class schedules; and

WHEREAS, Eating breakfast as part of the schoolday is associated with positive pupil behavioral health and academic performances, such as better test score results, improved concentration in class, lower rates of chronic absenteeism, fewer classroom disruptions, and less frequent visits to the school nurse; and

WHEREAS, Breakfast After the Bell programs, such as breakfast in the classroom, grab and go breakfast, and second chance breakfast, are proven meal delivery methods that boost school breakfast participation and related positive outcomes; and

WHEREAS, School breakfast participation is associated with a lower body mass index, which is an indicator of sustainable body fat, lower probability of being overweight, and lower probability of obesity; and

WHEREAS, States across the nation have introduced legislation to require that schools with a high percentage of pupils who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals implement a Breakfast After the Bell program; and

WHEREAS, If California schools increased school breakfast participation such that 70 percent of the pupils who eat free or reduced-price lunch also participated in their school’s breakfast program, an additional 335,997 pupils would receive breakfast every day and school districts would receive more than $100,000,000 in federal meal reimbursements for their school nutrition budgets; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature proclaims March 4, 2024, to March 8, 2024, inclusive, as School Breakfast Week; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.