Bill Text: CA SB782 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

California Senate Bill 782 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Energy data transparency.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2018-09-22 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 684, Statutes of 2018. [SB782 Detail]

Download: California-2017-SB782-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate March 29, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 782

Introduced by Senator Skinner

February 17, 2017

An act to ~~amend Section 8499.10 of the Education Code, relating to education programs.~~ add Article 10 (commencing with Section 590) to Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to school meals.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 782, as amended, Skinner. ~~Education programs: Head Start.~~ School meals: California grown food.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education 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 establish the California Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program, to be administered by the Department of Food and Agriculture. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the State Department of Education, the State Department of Public Health, and other key stakeholders relevant to school meals, agriculture, or health, to establish and develop grant application criteria for the grant program. The bill would authorize a school district or a charter school to apply to the department for a grant and would require the school district or charter school to use this money to buy California grown food, as defined.
Existing law provides that the Legislature finds and declares certain things about the federal Head Start program, including that the Congress has recognized the importance of the transfer from preschool to primary school.
~~This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to this law.~~

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The State of California should advance programs that promote a safe and healthy food supply, enhance the state agricultural economy, and ensure the health and well-being of all children. It is therefore of the utmost importance that school districts provide healthy and freshly prepared meals from food grown in California to public school children.
(b) The State of California participates in the federal National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the federal School Breakfast Program (SBP), which are federal and state assisted meal programs that provide reimbursements to school districts for meals that meet nutrition standards served to eligible pupils for free or at a reduced price (FRP). NSLP and SBP are administered by the State Department of Education and recent data shows all of the following:
(1) Out of the six million pupils enrolled in California schools, more than half qualify for FRP meals.
(2) Seven hundred million breakfasts and lunches were prepared and served to pupils who qualify for FRP meals, with an average of 2.5 million meals served each day.
(3) The State Department of Education received a total of $2 billion in public funding as reimbursement for school breakfasts and lunches, including about $155,000,000 from the state.
(c) Various studies, including in the Journal of Health Economics, Journal of School Health, and Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, show that fresh and nutritious school meals increase the health and academic achievement of pupils, improve attendance rates, and have positive behavioral impacts that result in better classroom environments.
(d) Increasing the local and regional sourcing of agricultural products in school meals can benefit the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extra transportation and packaging required for products procured out of state and from abroad.
(e) According to a California State University, Fresno, Center for Agricultural Business study, every $1 spent in the agriculture sector adds $2.56 to the state’s economy.
(f) It is in the best interest of the state to increase the amount of funding for school meals directed to the procurement of California-grown food, which will have positive impacts on the state’s agricultural economy, the health and academic achievement of school children, and the environment.
(g) The Californian Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program will improve the quality of school meals throughout the state.

SEC. 2.

Article 10 (commencing with Section 590) is added to Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Food and Agricultural Code, to read:

Article 10. The California Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program
590.
For purposes of this article “California grown” means any food product grown or produced within the state, including in any inland waterway in the state.
591.
The purpose of this article is to establish the California Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program to provide grants for public schools to buy California grown food and to expand the number of freshly prepared school meals that use California grown ingredients throughout the school districts within the state.
592.
(a) (1) The department, in cooperation with the State Department of Education, the State Department of Public Health, and other key stakeholders relevant to school meals, agriculture, or health, shall establish and develop grant application criteria for the California Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that guidelines and professional development relating to food service be included in the grant application criteria established by the department.
(b) The grant program established pursuant to this article shall be administered by the department.
593.
It is the intent of the Legislature that the grant program established pursuant to this article create opportunities for public and private partnerships. The department and other public entities and stakeholders described in subdivision (a) of Section 592 are encouraged to reach out to public and private entities for resource and program partnering opportunities.
594.
(a) A school district or a charter school may apply to the department for a grant pursuant to this article.
(b) (1) A school district and a charter school that receives a grant pursuant to this article may only use the money to purchase California grown food.
(2) Meals provided to pupils with California grown food, procured using grant money pursuant to this article, shall be provided at the same cost, no cost, or reduced cost, that the pupil pays for meals prepared with food not purchased with grant money provided pursuant to this article.

SECTION 1.Section 8499.10 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8499.10.
~~The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:~~
(a)The Congress has recognized the importance of the transfer from preschool to primary school. Section 642A of Title VI of Subtitle A of Chapter 8 of Subchapter B of the federal Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (Public Law 97-35) was enacted to require federal Head Start funds grantees to take steps to coordinate with and involve the local educational agency serving the community, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
~~(1)Developing and implementing a systematic procedure for transferring, with parental consent, Head Start program records for each participating child to the school in which the child will enroll.~~
(2)Establishing channels of communication between Head Start staff and their counterparts in the schools, including, but not limited to, teachers, social workers, and health staff, to facilitate the coordination of programs.
~~(3)Conducting meetings involving parents, kindergarten or elementary school teachers, and Head Start program teachers to discuss the educational, developmental, and other needs of individual children.~~
~~(4)Organizing and participating in joint transition-related training of school staff and Head Start staff.~~
(5)Developing and implementing a family outreach and support program in cooperation with entities carrying out parental involvement efforts under Title I of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.).
~~(6)Assisting families, administrators, and teachers in enhancing educational and developmental continuity between Head Start services and elementary school classes.~~
~~(7)Linking the services provided in the Head Start program with the education services provided by the local educational agency.~~
~~(b)The Superintendent shall advise local educational agencies of these federal requirements.~~