Bill Text: CA SB341 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Instructional School Gardens Program: reestablishment: Department of Food and Agriculture.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-13 - From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 15. [SB341 Detail]
Download: California-2025-SB341-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 341
| Introduced by Senator Pérez (Principal coauthors: Senators Ochoa Bogh and Rubio) |
February 12, 2025 |
An act to amend Section 51795, 51796, 51796.5, and 51798 of, to add Sections 51798.5 and 51799 to, to repeal Section 51796.2 of, and to repeal and add Section 51797 of, the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 341, as introduced, Pérez.
Instructional School Gardens Program: reestablishment: Department of Food and Agriculture.
Existing law establishes the Instructional School Gardens Program for the promotion, creation, and support of instructional school gardens through the allocation of grants, and through technical assistance provided, to school districts, charter schools, or county offices of education. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to administer the program, as provided.
This bill would revise and recast the Instructional School Gardens Program by, among other things, reestablishing the program under the administration of the Department of Food and Agriculture for the promotion, creation, and support of instructional school gardens through the allocation of grants and the provision of technical assistance to support instructional school garden programming in school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools. The bill would
require the department to convene a working group consisting of the department, the State Department of Education, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, and instructional school garden community-based organizations. The bill would require the working group to advise and assist the Department of Food and Agriculture in carrying out the program, as provided. The bill would establish the Instructional School Gardens and Maintenance Fund in the State Treasury and would require moneys in the fund to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for purposes of the program, as specified.
This bill, contingent upon an appropriation for its purposes, would require the department, on or before July 1, 2026, and in consultation with the working group, to develop a competitive grant process, including selection criteria, goals, prioritizations, and guidelines, for purposes of the program, as provided. The bill requires eligible applicants
to be local educational agencies or community-based organizations or other private individuals or entities partnering with at least one local educational agency, and would require applicants to designate one of 2 grant categories for each proposed schoolsite, as provided, and to submit a plan and measurable outcomes for a program of experiential, outdoor instruction that meet specified requirements. Before developing the competitive grant process, the bill would require the department to hold at least 2 public meetings to gather public input on the development of the competitive grant process.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 51795 of the Education Code is amended to read:51795.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) Garden-based learning uses the garden as an outdoor classroom to provide integrated learning experiences in and across disciplines through active, engaging real-world experiences that bring abstract concepts to life.
(a)
(b) School gardens provide
garden-based instruction provides an interactive, hands-on learning environment in which pupils learn composting and waste management techniques,
fundamental concepts about nutrition and obesity diabetes prevention, and the cultural and historical aspects of our food supply. School gardens also foster supply, a better understanding and appreciation of where food comes from, how food travels from the farm to the table, and the important role of agriculture in the state, national, and global economy.
(b)Encouraging and supporting school gardens creates opportunities for children to learn to make healthier food choices,
(c) Studies show that garden-enhanced nutrition education is a profoundly engaging and effective way to establish healthy eating habits with youth, to get youth to participate more successfully in their education experiences, and develop a deeper appreciation of their community.
(c)
(d) School garden programs can equally enhance any
academic subject area including science, environmental education,
literacy and stewardship, mathematics, reading, writing, art, nutrition, physical education, history, and geography. School gardens provide a unique setting in which improved pupil performance can be achieved.
(e) By directly teaching California academic standards-based concepts through real-world applications, school garden-based instruction provides outdoor living laboratories that can be accessed for multiple core subject areas. Garden-based activities support pupil engagement and lead to a number of academic benefits. Furthermore, garden-based instruction has been shown to help close academic achievement gaps and to support pupils with learning differences. Additionally, school garden education increases environmental literacy.
(f) Garden-based learning
also provides ideal environments to address pupil social and emotional learning, academic achievement gaps and engagement, learning differences, agency, and resilience. Garden-based learning improves social and emotional skills of empathy, communication and teamwork, enhanced relationships with peers, and improved overall well-being. Psychological benefits include positive mental health, sense of purpose and belonging, higher life satisfaction, and the ability to manage stress and life challenges.
(g) Garden-based learning and time outdoors is a positive and consistent predictor of physical activity among children and supports healthy lifelong habits, including those related to food and physical activity. Introducing learning through garden-based activities may help children shift from a life course trajectory of sedentary activities towards a more positive trajectory of physical movement outdoors and healthy habits.
(h) Garden-based learning provides more contact with nature and studies show that pupils who have daily access to nature cope better with adversity than those who do not and that onsite gardens and green schoolyards can reduce stress, promote protective factors for resilience, increase focus, build competence, and help form supportive social groups among pupils.
(i) Garden-based learning supports green schoolyards and tree canopy efforts. Trees and green space, including instructional gardens, help mediate temperatures in schools. Studies show a positive relationship between natural playscapes and enhanced physical activity, motor development, creative play behavior, and environmental learning.
(j) Garden-based learning prepares youth to better address climate change. By connecting pupils with nature through outdoor,
experiential learning, school gardens directly support climate change instruction aimed at preparing pupils to be effective civic leaders to help counter the effects and causes of climate change.
SEC. 2.
Section 51796 of the Education Code is amended to read:51796.
(a) The Instructional School Gardens Program is hereby(b) The Superintendent may Department of Food and Agriculture shall convene an interagency a
working group on instructional school gardens that may shall include, but not be limited to, representatives of the department, State Department of Education, the Department of Food and Agriculture, CalRecycle, the State Department of Public Health, and the California Integrated Waste Management Board. instructional school garden community-based
organizations. The working group may
shall advise and assist the Superintendent Department of Food and Agriculture on all of the following:
(1) Effective Identifying effective and efficient means of encouraging school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education
local educational agencies to develop and maintain a quality instructional school garden program.
(2) The Identifying the availability of state and nonstate resources and technical assistance to help school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education local educational agencies in establishing and maintaining instructional school gardens.
(3) Public Identifying
public and private partnerships available to assist school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education local educational agencies in using instructional school gardens to complement the academic program of participating schools.
(c)The Superintendent may establish an advisory group involving other agencies and groups with expertise in instructional school gardens,
including, but not limited to, the California Environmental Education Interagency Network. The purpose of the advisory group is to support program efforts through technical assistance, resources, in-kind support, site visits, and other related efforts.
(d)(1)The Superintendent shall use existing resources to comply with subdivisions (b) and (c).
(4) Supporting program efforts through technical assistance, resources, in-kind support, site visits, and other related efforts.
(2)
(c) The Department of Food and Agriculture, the State Department of Education, the State Department of Public Health, and the California Integrated Waste Management Board
CalRecycle shall use existing resources to comply with subdivision (b).
SEC. 3.
Section 51796.2 of the Education Code is repealed.(a)A school district, charter school, or county office of education may apply to the Superintendent for funding for a three-year grant under this article in a manner determined by the Superintendent, in order to develop and maintain an instructional school garden. The application, at a minimum, shall indicate the school or schools at which the instructional school gardens are, or are to be, located; the grade level or grade levels to be targeted; the potential number of classes within the grade levels and number of pupils who would use the instructional school gardens; and the intended items of expenditure for any funds received. The application also shall include an explanation of the six-month reporting requirement specified in Section 51796.5.
(b)The Superintendent shall distribute the grants applied for pursuant to subdivision (a) to school districts, charter schools, or county offices of education. Each grant shall be not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per schoolsite, except that a district, charter school, or county office of education that applies on behalf of at least one schoolsite with an enrollment of 1,000 or more pupils may receive a grant of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) per schoolsite with an enrollment of 1,000 or more pupils.
SEC. 4.
Section 51796.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:51796.5.
As a condition of the receipt of funds pursuant to this article,SEC. 5.
Section 51797 of the Education Code is repealed.During its annual discretionary grant funding process, the California Integrated Waste Management Board may give preferential consideration to providing an appropriate level of funding to the program established pursuant to this article.
SEC. 6.
Section 51797 is added to the Education Code, to read:51797.
(a) On or before July 1, 2026, the Department of Food and Agriculture, in consultation with the working group, shall develop a competitive grant process, including selection criteria, goals, prioritizations, and guidelines, to support school garden instructional programs and maintenance in local educational agencies, consistent with all of the following:(1) (A) Eligible applicants shall include local educational agencies and community-based organizations or other private individuals or entities that are partnering with at least one local educational agency.
(B) For purposes of a community-based organization and other private individual or entity eligibility
under subparagraph (A), the local educational agency partnership shall be confirmed by a memorandum of understanding, services agreement, or letter of support, and the community-based organization or other private individual or entity shall have an established track record of operating outdoor, experiential learning programs in schools.
(2) Applicants shall submit a plan and measurable outcomes for a program of experiential, outdoor instruction that includes all of the following:
(A) (i) The designation of an instructional school garden or outdoor learning space at each proposed schoolsite of adequate size and with the necessary infrastructure, including water, class seating, and planting areas, to provide regular learning and stewardship opportunities for all pupils.
(ii) If an instructional
school garden or outdoor learning space needs to be developed, or exists but needs improvements in infrastructure, applicants shall indicate that in their application and request an in-development grant, as described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3).
(B) (i) A commitment to use academic standards-aligned curriculum if programming occurs during the instructional day. This requirement shall not extend to programming offered as part of an expanded learning opportunity program pursuant to Section 46120.
(ii) Applicants shall be encouraged to use free, publicly available curriculum as appropriate.
(C) Instruction consisting of experiential learning opportunities where pupils are in direct connection with living ecosystems, including their food system.
(D) Integration of outdoor, experiential learning into their planning documents, including their single plan for pupil achievement or their local control and accountability plan, as applicable.
(3) Applicants shall designate one of the two following grant categories for each proposed schoolsite:
(A) An “operational grant” for schoolsites that have adequate outdoor learning facilities and experiential learning programs that offer regular opportunities to all pupils.
(B) An “in-development grant” for schoolsites whose facilities need improvements or whose programs are not regularly involving all pupils. Schoolsites receiving an in-development grant shall be eligible for additional short-term funding to support infrastructure and program development, and shall
be required to partner with a technical assistance provider approved by the Department of Food and Agriculture, in consultation with the working group.
(4) Grant funds may be used for personnel that provide direct instructional support to certificated teachers and eligible projects.
(5) Grant funds shall be provided in proportion to the scope of work, using a formula that includes the number of experiential lessons or hands-on activities offered to each classroom, the number of participating classrooms, and the prevailing wages for instructional support providers with related, specialized experience. The formula shall include personnel time for activities beyond direct instruction or instructional support that are necessary for program operations, including preparation of lessons, facility upkeep, communications with stakeholders, and community engagement.
(6) (A) Grant funding shall only be disbursed to an applicant in subsequent years based upon the results of the grant report pursuant to Section 51796.5.
(B) Grant recipients shall qualify for a renewal of grant funding for the following school year if the deliverables outlined in the plan developed pursuant to paragraph (2) are adequately met, as determined by the Department of Food and Agriculture, in consultation with the working group. The Department of Food and Agriculture, in consultation with the working group, may review grant recipient expenditures in order to determine that all grant funding was used for intended purposes.
(b) Before developing the competitive grant process pursuant to subdivision (a), the Department of Food and Agriculture shall hold at least two public meetings to
gather public input on the development of the competitive grant process.
(c) The operation of this section is contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
SEC. 7.
Section 51798 of the Education Code is amended to read:51798.
ASEC. 8.
Section 51798.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:51798.5.
The Instructional School Gardens and Maintenance Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury for purposes of this article. Moneys in the fund, including any federal funds or private funds, shall be made available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of Food and Agriculture for purposes of this article.SEC. 9.
Section 51799 is added to the Education Code, to read:51799.
For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:(a) “CalRecycle” means the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.
(b) “Eligible project” means any project or action identified in Section 4799.12 of the Public Resources Code or in paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 12802.10 of the Government Code that can feasibly be completed on the schoolsite of a local educational agency.
(c) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.
(d) “School garden” means any eligible project located within the
property boundaries of a schoolsite of a local educational agency that is used specifically for a wide range of academic instruction and other uses, including nutrition, social and emotional learning, building agency, and other related activities.
(e) “Working group” means the working group on instructional school gardens convened pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 51796.
