CS for CS for SB 1312                            First Engrossed
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       20111312e1
       
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to school nutrition programs;
    3         providing a short title; transferring the Food and
    4         Nutrition Services Trust Fund in the Department of
    5         Education to the Department of Agriculture and
    6         Consumer Services; transferring and reassigning
    7         functions and responsibilities, including records,
    8         personnel, property, and unexpended balances of
    9         appropriations and other resources for the
   10         administration of the school food and nutrition
   11         programs from the Department of Education to the
   12         Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services;
   13         creating s. 570.98, F.S.; requiring the Department of
   14         Agriculture and Consumer Services to conduct,
   15         supervise, and administer all school food and
   16         nutrition programs; requiring the department to
   17         cooperate fully with the United States Government;
   18         authorizing the department to act as agent of, or
   19         contract with, the Federal Government, other state
   20         agencies, or any county or municipal government for
   21         the administration of the school food and nutrition
   22         programs; transferring, renumbering, and amending s.
   23         1006.06, F.S., relating to school food service
   24         programs; conforming provisions to changes made by the
   25         act; deleting obsolete provisions; transferring,
   26         renumbering, and amending ss. 1006.0606 and 1010.77,
   27         F.S., relating to the children’s summer nutrition
   28         program and the Food and Nutrition Services Trust
   29         Fund, respectively; conforming provisions to changes
   30         made by the act; deleting obsolete provisions;
   31         amending s. 1003.453, F.S.; requiring each school
   32         district to send an updated copy of its wellness
   33         policy and physical education policy to the Department
   34         of Education and the Department of Agriculture and
   35         Consumer Services; deleting obsolete provisions;
   36         requiring certain information to be accessible from
   37         the website of the Department of Agriculture and
   38         Consumer Services; creating the Healthy Schools for
   39         Healthy Lives Council within the Department of
   40         Agriculture and Consumer Services; requiring the
   41         Commissioner of Agriculture to appoint members of the
   42         council; providing duties of the council; providing
   43         requirements for the meetings, powers, duties,
   44         procedures, and recordkeeping of the council;
   45         requiring the Department of Education, in consultation
   46         with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
   47         Services, to develop and submit a request for a waiver
   48         to the United States Department of Agriculture to
   49         transfer administration of the school food service and
   50         nutrition programs; requiring the Department of
   51         Education to notify the Governor and the Legislature
   52         regarding the decision of the United States Department
   53         of Agriculture; providing for contingent effect based
   54         upon federal approval of a request for a waiver;
   55         providing effective dates.
   56  
   57  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   58  
   59         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Healthy Schools
   60  for Healthy Lives Act.”
   61         Section 2. The Food and Nutrition Services Trust Fund,
   62  FLAIR number 48-2-2315, in the Department of Education is
   63  transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
   64  Services, FLAIR number 42-2-2315.
   65         Section 3. All powers, duties, functions, records,
   66  personnel, property, pending issues and existing contracts,
   67  administrative authority, administrative rules, and unexpended
   68  balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds for the
   69  administration of the school food and nutrition programs are
   70  transferred by a type two transfer, as defined in s. 20.06(2),
   71  Florida Statutes, from the Department of Education to the
   72  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
   73         Section 4. Section 570.98, Florida Statutes, is created to
   74  read:
   75         570.98School food and nutrition programs.—
   76         (1) The department shall conduct, supervise, and administer
   77  all school food and nutrition programs that will be carried out
   78  using federal or state funds, or funds from any other source.
   79         (2) The department shall cooperate fully with the United
   80  States Government and its agencies and instrumentalities so that
   81  the department may receive the benefit of all federal financial
   82  allotments and assistance possible to carry out the purposes of
   83  this chapter.
   84         (3) The department may act as agent of, or contract with,
   85  the Federal Government, another state agency, or any county or
   86  municipal government for the administration of the school food
   87  and nutrition programs, including the distribution of funds
   88  provided by the Federal Government to support the school food
   89  and nutrition programs.
   90         Section 5. Section 1006.06, Florida Statutes, is
   91  transferred, renumbered as section 570.981, Florida Statutes,
   92  and amended to read:
   93         570.981 1006.06 School food service programs.—
   94         (1) In recognition of the demonstrated relationship between
   95  good nutrition and the capacity of students to develop and
   96  learn, it is the policy of the state to provide standards for
   97  school food service and to require district school boards to
   98  establish and maintain an appropriate private school food
   99  service program consistent with the nutritional needs of
  100  students.
  101         (2) The department State Board of Education shall adopt
  102  rules covering the administration and operation of the school
  103  food service programs.
  104         (3) Each district school board shall consider the
  105  recommendations of the district school superintendent and adopt
  106  policies to provide for an appropriate food and nutrition
  107  program for students consistent with federal law and department
  108  State Board of Education rule.
  109         (4) The state shall provide the state National School Lunch
  110  Act matching requirements. The funds provided shall be
  111  distributed in such a manner as to comply with the requirements
  112  of the National School Lunch Act.
  113         (5)(a) Each district school board shall implement school
  114  breakfast programs that make breakfast meals available to all
  115  students in each elementary school. By the beginning of the
  116  2010-2011 school year, Universal school breakfast programs shall
  117  be offered in schools in which 80 percent or more of the
  118  students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Each
  119  school shall, to the maximum extent practicable, make breakfast
  120  meals available to students at an alternative site location,
  121  which may include, but need not be limited to, alternative
  122  breakfast options as described in publications of the Food and
  123  Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture
  124  for the federal School Breakfast Program.
  125         (b) Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, Each school
  126  district must annually set prices for breakfast meals at rates
  127  that, combined with federal reimbursements and state
  128  allocations, are sufficient to defray costs of school breakfast
  129  programs without requiring allocations from the district’s
  130  operating funds, except if the district school board approves
  131  lower rates.
  132         (c) Each district school board is encouraged to provide
  133  universal-free school breakfast meals to all students in each
  134  elementary, middle, and high school. By the beginning of the
  135  2010-2011 school year, Each district school board shall approve
  136  or disapprove a policy, after receiving public testimony
  137  concerning the proposed policy at two or more regular meetings,
  138  which makes universal-free school breakfast meals available to
  139  all students in each elementary, middle, and high school in
  140  which 80 percent or more of the students are eligible for free
  141  or reduced-price meals.
  142         (d) Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, Each
  143  elementary, middle, and high school shall make a breakfast meal
  144  available if a student arrives at school on the school bus less
  145  than 15 minutes before the first bell rings and shall allow the
  146  student at least 15 minutes to eat the breakfast.
  147         (e) Each school district shall annually provide to all
  148  students in each elementary, middle, and high school information
  149  prepared by the district’s food service administration regarding
  150  its school breakfast programs. The information shall be
  151  communicated through school announcements and written notice
  152  sent to all parents.
  153         (f) A district school board may operate a breakfast program
  154  providing for food preparation at the school site or in central
  155  locations with distribution to designated satellite schools or
  156  any combination thereof.
  157         (g) The commissioner shall make every reasonable effort to
  158  ensure that any school designated as a “severe need school”
  159  receives the highest rate of reimbursement to which it is
  160  entitled under 42 U.S.C. s. 1773 for each breakfast meal served.
  161         (h) The department shall annually allocate among the school
  162  districts funds provided from the school breakfast supplement in
  163  the General Appropriations Act based on each district’s total
  164  number of free and reduced-price breakfast meals served.
  165         (6) The Legislature, recognizing that school children need
  166  nutritious food not only for healthy physical and intellectual
  167  development but also to combat diseases related to poor
  168  nutrition and obesity, establishes the Florida Farm Fresh
  169  Schools Program within the department of Education as the lead
  170  agency for the program. The program shall comply with the
  171  regulations of the National School Lunch Program and require:
  172         (a) The department of Education to work with the Department
  173  of Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop policies
  174  pertaining to school food services which encourage:
  175         1. School districts to buy fresh and high-quality foods
  176  grown in this state when feasible.
  177         2. Farmers in this state to sell their products to school
  178  districts and schools.
  179         3. School districts and schools to demonstrate a preference
  180  for competitively priced organic food products.
  181         (b) School districts and schools to make reasonable efforts
  182  to select foods based on a preference for those that have
  183  maximum nutritional content.
  184         (c) The department of Education, in collaboration with the
  185  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to provide
  186  outreach, guidance, and training to school districts, schools,
  187  school food service directors, parent and teacher organizations,
  188  and students about the benefits of fresh food products from
  189  farms in this state.
  190         Section 6. Section 1006.0606, Florida Statutes, is
  191  transferred, renumbered as section 570.982, Florida Statutes,
  192  and amended to read:
  193         570.982 1006.0606 Children’s summer nutrition program.—
  194         (1) This section may be cited as the “Ms. Willie Ann Glenn
  195  Act.”
  196         (2) Each district school board shall develop a plan by May
  197  1, 2006, to sponsor a summer nutrition program beginning the
  198  summer of 2006 to operate sites in the school district as
  199  follows:
  200         (a) Within 5 miles of at least one elementary school at
  201  which 50 percent or more of the students are eligible for free
  202  or reduced-price school meals and for the duration of 35
  203  consecutive days; and
  204         (b) Except as operated pursuant to paragraph (a), within 10
  205  miles of each elementary school at which 50 percent or more of
  206  the students are eligible for free or reduced-price school
  207  meals.
  208         (3)(a) A district school board boards may be exempt from
  209  sponsoring a summer nutrition program pursuant to this section.
  210  A district school board seeking such exemption must include the
  211  issue on an agenda at a regular or special district school board
  212  meeting that is publicly noticed, provide residents an
  213  opportunity to participate in the discussion, and vote on
  214  whether to be exempt from this section. The district school
  215  board shall notify the commissioner of Education within 10 days
  216  after it decides to become exempt from this section.
  217         (b) Each year the district school board shall reconsider
  218  its decision to be exempt from the provisions of this section
  219  and shall vote on whether to continue the exemption from
  220  sponsoring a summer nutrition program. The district school board
  221  shall notify the commissioner of Education within 10 days after
  222  each subsequent year’s decision to continue the exemption.
  223         (c) If a district school board elects to be exempt from
  224  sponsoring a summer nutrition program under this section, the
  225  district school board may encourage not-for-profit entities to
  226  sponsor the program. If a not-for-profit entity chooses to
  227  sponsor the summer nutrition program but fails to perform with
  228  regard to the program, the district school board, the school
  229  district, and the department of Education are not required to
  230  continue the program and shall be held harmless from any
  231  liability arising from the discontinuation of the summer
  232  nutrition program.
  233         (4) The superintendent of schools may collaborate with
  234  municipal and county governmental agencies and private, not-for
  235  profit leaders in implementing the plan. Although schools have
  236  proven to be the optimal site for a summer nutrition program,
  237  any not-for-profit entity may serve as a site or sponsor. By
  238  April 15 of each year, each school district with a summer
  239  nutrition program shall report to the department the district’s
  240  summer nutrition program sites in compliance with this section.
  241         (5) The department shall provide to each district school
  242  board by February 15 of each year a list of local organizations
  243  that have filed letters of intent to participate in the summer
  244  nutrition program in order that a district school board is able
  245  to determine how many sites are needed to serve the children and
  246  where to place each site.
  247         Section 7. Section 1010.77, Florida Statutes, is
  248  transferred, renumbered as section 570.983, Florida Statutes,
  249  and amended to read:
  250         570.983 1010.77 Food and Nutrition Services Trust Fund.
  251  Chapter 99-37 99-34, Laws of Florida, re-created the Food and
  252  Nutrition Services Trust Fund to record revenue and
  253  disbursements of Federal Food and Nutrition funds received by
  254  the department of Education as authorized in s. 570.981 s.
  255  1006.06.
  256         Section 8. Section 1003.453, Florida Statutes, is amended
  257  to read:
  258         1003.453 School wellness and physical education policies;
  259  nutrition guidelines.—
  260         (1) By September 1, 2006, Each school district shall submit
  261  to the Department of Education a copy of its school wellness
  262  policy as required by the Child Nutrition and WIC
  263  Reauthorization Act of 2004 and a copy of its physical education
  264  policy required under s. 1003.455. Each school district shall
  265  annually review its school wellness policy and physical
  266  education policy and provide a procedure for public input and
  267  revisions. In addition, each school district shall send an
  268  updated copy of its wellness policy and physical education
  269  policy to the department and to the Department of Agriculture
  270  and Consumer Services when a change or revision is made.
  271         (2) By December 1, 2006, The department shall post links to
  272  each school district’s school wellness policy and physical
  273  education policy on its website so that the policies can be
  274  accessed and reviewed by the public. Each school district shall
  275  provide the most current versions of its school wellness policy
  276  and physical education policy on the district’s website.
  277         (3) By December 1, 2006, The department must provide on its
  278  website links to resources that include information regarding:
  279         (a) Classroom instruction on the benefits of exercise and
  280  healthful eating.
  281         (b) Classroom instruction on the health hazards of using
  282  tobacco and being exposed to tobacco smoke.
  283         (c) The eight components of a coordinated school health
  284  program, including health education, physical education, health
  285  services, and nutrition services.
  286         (d) The core measures for school health and wellness, such
  287  as the School Health Index.
  288         (e) Access for each student to the nutritional content of
  289  foods and beverages and to healthful food choices in accordance
  290  with the dietary guidelines of the United States Department of
  291  Agriculture. This information shall also be accessible from the
  292  website of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
  293         (f) Multiple examples of school wellness policies for
  294  school districts.
  295         (g) Examples of wellness classes that provide nutrition
  296  education for teachers and school support staff, including
  297  encouragement to provide classes that are taught by a licensed
  298  nutrition professional from the school nutrition department.
  299         (4) School districts are encouraged to provide basic
  300  training in first aid, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation,
  301  for all students, beginning in grade 6 and every 2 years
  302  thereafter. Private and public partnerships for providing
  303  training or necessary funding are encouraged.
  304         Section 9. (1) There is created within the Department of
  305  Agriculture and Consumer Services the Healthy Schools for
  306  Healthy Lives Council, which shall consist of 11 members
  307  appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture. The council shall
  308  advise the department on matters relating to nutritional
  309  standards and the prevention of childhood obesity, nutrition
  310  education, anaphylaxis, and other needs to further the
  311  development of the various school nutrition programs.
  312         (2) The meetings, powers, duties, procedures, and
  313  recordkeeping of the Healthy Schools for Healthy Lives Council
  314  shall be governed by s. 570.0705, Florida Statutes, relating to
  315  advisory committees established within the department.
  316         Section 10. This section shall take effect upon this act
  317  becoming a law and, within 30 days thereafter, the Department of
  318  Education, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture
  319  and Consumer Services, shall develop and submit to the United
  320  States Department of Agriculture a request for a waiver required
  321  to transfer administration of the school food service and
  322  nutrition programs from the Department of Education to the
  323  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Upon receipt of
  324  the United States Department of Agriculture’s approval or denial
  325  of the request for a waiver, the Department of Education shall
  326  immediately notify in writing the Governor, the President of the
  327  Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
  328  regarding the decision of the United States Department of
  329  Agriculture. The notification shall include a copy of the United
  330  States Department of Agriculture’s approval or denial of the
  331  request for a waiver.
  332         Section 11. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
  333  act and except for this section, which shall take effect upon
  334  this act becoming a law, this act shall take effect January 1,
  335  2012, if the United States Department of Agriculture approves
  336  the request for a waiver, pursuant to section 9 of this act, on
  337  or before November 1, 2011.