CS/HB 623

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to school food service programs; amending
3s. 1006.06, F.S.; requiring school breakfast programs in
4middle and high schools; providing procedures for school
5breakfast programs; specifying requirements for setting
6prices of breakfast meals; requiring district school
7boards to consider policies for the provision of
8universal-free school breakfast meals in certain schools;
9requiring information to be communicated to students and
10parents; clarifying the allocation of funds for school
11breakfast programs; directing the Office of Program Policy
12Analysis and Government Accountability to submit a report
13on school district food service programs; providing an
14effective date.
15
16Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18     Section 1.  Subsection (5) of section 1006.06, Florida
19Statutes, is amended to read:
20     1006.06  School food service programs.--
21     (5)(a)  Each district school board shall implement school
22breakfast programs in all elementary schools that make breakfast
23meals available to all students in kindergarten through grade 6
24in each district school, unless the elementary school. By the
25beginning of the 2010-2011 school year, the school breakfast
26programs shall make breakfast meals available to all students in
27each elementary, middle, and high school. Each school shall, to
28the maximum extent practicable, make breakfast meals available
29to students at an alternative site location, which may include,
30but is not limited to, "Grab 'n' Go" breakfast as described in
31publications of the Food and Nutrition Service of the United
32States Department of Agriculture for the federal School
33Breakfast Program goes only through grade 5, in which case the
34requirement shall apply only through grade 5. Each district
35school board shall implement breakfast programs in all
36elementary schools in which students are eligible for free and
37reduced price lunch meals, to the extent specifically funded in
38the General Appropriations Act.
39     (b)  Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, each school
40district must annually set prices for breakfast meals at rates
41that, combined with federal reimbursements, are sufficient to
42defray costs of school breakfast programs without requiring
43allocations from the district's operating funds, except if the
44district school board approves lower rates.
45     (c)  Each district school board is encouraged to provide
46universal-free school breakfast meals to all students in each
47elementary, middle, and high school. By the beginning of the
482010-2011 school year, each district school board shall approve
49or disapprove a policy, after receiving public testimony
50concerning the proposed policy at two or more regular meetings,
51that makes universal-free school breakfast meals available to
52all students in each elementary, middle, and high school in
53which 80 percent or more of the students are eligible for free
54or reduced-price meals.
55     (d)  Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, each
56elementary, middle, and high school shall make a "Grab 'n' Go"
57breakfast meal available if a student arrives at school on the
58school bus less than 15 minutes before the first bell rings and
59shall allow the student at least 15 minutes to eat the
60breakfast.
61     (e)  Each school district shall annually provide all
62students in each elementary, middle, and high school with
63information prepared by the district's food service
64administration regarding its school breakfast programs. The
65information shall be communicated through school announcements
66and written notice sent to all parents.
67     (f)  A district school board may operate a breakfast
68program providing for food preparation at the school site or in
69central locations with distribution to designated satellite
70schools or any combination thereof.
71     (g)(b)  The commissioner shall make every reasonable effort
72to ensure that any school designated a "severe need school"
73receives the highest rate of reimbursement to which it is
74entitled under pursuant to 42 U.S.C. s. 1773 for each free and
75reduced price breakfast meal served.
76     (h)(c)  The department shall annually allocate among the
77school districts funds provided from the calculate and
78distribute a school district breakfast supplement for each
79school year by multiplying the state breakfast rate as specified
80in the General Appropriations Act based on each district's total
81by the number of free and reduced-price reduced price breakfast
82meals served.
83     (d)  The Legislature shall provide sufficient funds in the
84General Appropriations Act to reimburse participating school
85districts for the difference between the average federal
86reimbursement for free and reduced price breakfasts and the
87average statewide cost for breakfasts.
88     Section 2.  (1)  The Office of Program Policy Analysis and
89Government Accountability, by January 15, 2009, shall submit a
90report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker
91of the House of Representatives, the members of the State Board
92of Education, and the Commissioner of Education on school
93district food service programs. The report shall:
94     (a)  Estimate the district-by-district cost if each school
95district implements a universal-free school breakfast program in
96all elementary, middle, and high schools. The estimate shall
97consider the marginal costs per breakfast meal, anticipated
98increases in student participation rates, expected reductions in
99the marginal costs per breakfast meal that result from increased
100economies of scale, offsetting federal reimbursements, impact on
101the marginal costs per breakfast meal of limiting participation
102in a universal-free school breakfast program to schools having
103various percentages of students eligible for free or reduced-
104price meals, and impact on student participation rates and
105marginal costs per breakfast meal of alternatives to serving
106meals in school cafeterias. The estimate shall also consider the
107experiences of specific Florida schools and school districts
108implementing a universal-free school breakfast program.
109     (b)  Determine the extent to which school district food
110service programs are fiscally self-sufficient or require
111financial support from other district operating funds.
112     (c)  Examine for at least the previous 5 years the prices
113that school food service programs charged for meals, the
114frequency of price-level increases, and the relationship between
115increases in the costs per meal and price-level increases.
116     (d)  Identify best practices for the efficient and
117effective operation of school district food service programs,
118which shall include strategies for a school district to reduce
119the costs of its food service programs without sacrificing the
120nutritional value of meals, including, but not limited to, the
121use of alternatives to the daily counting of meals at the point
122of service which are authorized under 7 C.F.R. s. 210.7(c)(2).
123     (e)  Evaluate the methodology and forms used for school
124district food service programs to report their revenues and
125expenditures to the Department of Education. The evaluation
126shall assess whether the forms require food service programs to
127accurately report their total operating costs, including, but
128not limited to, food, labor, equipment, utilities, janitorial
129services, overhead, and indirect costs; whether the calculations
130submitted on the forms accurately report the average costs per
131meal; and whether information obtained from the forms as
132submitted to the department allows an equitable district-by-
133district comparison of the average costs per meal.
134     (f)  Assess the methodology used to allocate funds provided
135in the General Appropriations Act for school district food
136service programs and the extent to which the allocation
137methodology creates incentives for the fiscal efficiency of the
138food service programs.
139     (g)  Evaluate the organizational structure of the state
140for, and the state implementation and programmatic management
141of, federal programs administered by the Food and Nutrition
142Service of the United States Department of Agriculture,
143including, but not limited to, the National School Lunch
144Program, the federal School Breakfast Program, and the federal
145Summer Food Service Program.
146     (2)  The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
147Accountability shall consult with staff of the education
148committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, the
149Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture and
150Consumer Services, and the Auditor General concerning the
151research design for the report.
152     Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2008.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.