Florida Senate - 2011 SB 1312
By Senator Siplin
19-01392D-11 20111312__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to school nutrition programs;
3 providing a short title; transferring and reassigning
4 functions and responsibilities, including records,
5 personnel, property, and unexpended balances of
6 appropriations and other resources for the
7 administration of the school food and nutrition
8 programs from the Department of Education to the
9 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services;
10 creating s. 570.98, F.S.; requiring the Department of
11 Agriculture and Consumer Services to conduct,
12 supervise, and administer all school food and
13 nutrition programs; requiring the department to
14 cooperate fully with the United States Government;
15 authorizing the department to act as agent of, or
16 contract with, the Federal Government, other state
17 agencies, or any county or municipal government for
18 the administration of the school food and nutrition
19 programs; transferring, renumbering, and amending s.
20 1006.06, F.S., relating to school food service
21 programs; conforming provisions to changes made by the
22 act; deleting obsolete provisions; transferring,
23 renumbering, and amending ss. 1006.0606 and 1010.77,
24 F.S., relating to the children’s summer nutrition
25 program and the Food and Nutrition Services Trust
26 Fund, respectively; conforming provisions to changes
27 made by the act; deleting obsolete provisions;
28 amending s. 1003.453, F.S.; requiring each school
29 district to send an updated copy of its wellness
30 policy and physical education policy to the Department
31 of Education and the Department of Agriculture and
32 Consumer Services; deleting obsolete provisions;
33 requiring certain information to be accessible from
34 the website of the Department of Agriculture and
35 Consumer Services; providing an effective date.
36
37 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
38
39 Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Healthy Schools
40 for Healthy Lives Act.”
41 Section 2. All powers, duties, functions, records,
42 personnel, property, pending issues and existing contracts,
43 administrative authority, administrative rules, and unexpended
44 balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds for the
45 administration of the school food and nutrition programs are
46 transferred by a type two transfer, as defined in s. 20.06(2),
47 Florida Statutes, from the Department of Education to the
48 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
49 Section 3. Section 570.98, Florida Statutes, is created to
50 read:
51 570.98 School food and nutrition programs.—
52 (1) The department shall conduct, supervise, and administer
53 all school food and nutrition programs that will be carried out
54 using federal or state funds, or funds from any other source.
55 (2) The department shall cooperate fully with the United
56 States Government and its agencies and instrumentalities so that
57 the department may receive the benefit of all federal financial
58 allotments and assistance possible to carry out the purposes of
59 this chapter.
60 (3) The department may act as agent of, or contract with,
61 the Federal Government, another state agency, or any county or
62 municipal government for the administration of the school food
63 and nutrition programs, including the distribution of funds
64 provided by the Federal Government to support the school food
65 and nutrition programs.
66 Section 4. Section 1006.06, Florida Statutes, is
67 transferred, renumbered as section 570.981, Florida Statutes,
68 and amended to read:
69 570.981 1006.06 School food service programs.—
70 (1) In recognition of the demonstrated relationship between
71 good nutrition and the capacity of students to develop and
72 learn, it is the policy of the state to provide standards for
73 school food service and to require district school boards to
74 establish and maintain an appropriate private school food
75 service program consistent with the nutritional needs of
76 students.
77 (2) The department State Board of Education shall adopt
78 rules covering the administration and operation of the school
79 food service programs.
80 (3) Each district school board shall consider the
81 recommendations of the district school superintendent and adopt
82 policies to provide for an appropriate food and nutrition
83 program for students consistent with federal law and department
84 State Board of Education rule.
85 (4) The state shall provide the state National School Lunch
86 Act matching requirements. The funds provided shall be
87 distributed in such a manner as to comply with the requirements
88 of the National School Lunch Act.
89 (5)(a) Each district school board shall implement school
90 breakfast programs that make breakfast meals available to all
91 students in each elementary school. By the beginning of the
92 2010-2011 school year, Universal school breakfast programs shall
93 be offered in schools in which 80 percent or more of the
94 students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Each
95 school shall, to the maximum extent practicable, make breakfast
96 meals available to students at an alternative site location,
97 which may include, but need not be limited to, alternative
98 breakfast options as described in publications of the Food and
99 Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture
100 for the federal School Breakfast Program.
101 (b) Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, Each school
102 district must annually set prices for breakfast meals at rates
103 that, combined with federal reimbursements and state
104 allocations, are sufficient to defray costs of school breakfast
105 programs without requiring allocations from the district’s
106 operating funds, except if the district school board approves
107 lower rates.
108 (c) Each district school board is encouraged to provide
109 universal-free school breakfast meals to all students in each
110 elementary, middle, and high school. By the beginning of the
111 2010-2011 school year, Each district school board shall approve
112 or disapprove a policy, after receiving public testimony
113 concerning the proposed policy at two or more regular meetings,
114 which makes universal-free school breakfast meals available to
115 all students in each elementary, middle, and high school in
116 which 80 percent or more of the students are eligible for free
117 or reduced-price meals.
118 (d) Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, Each
119 elementary, middle, and high school shall make a breakfast meal
120 available if a student arrives at school on the school bus less
121 than 15 minutes before the first bell rings and shall allow the
122 student at least 15 minutes to eat the breakfast.
123 (e) Each school district shall annually provide to all
124 students in each elementary, middle, and high school information
125 prepared by the district’s food service administration regarding
126 its school breakfast programs. The information shall be
127 communicated through school announcements and written notice
128 sent to all parents.
129 (f) A district school board may operate a breakfast program
130 providing for food preparation at the school site or in central
131 locations with distribution to designated satellite schools or
132 any combination thereof.
133 (g) The commissioner shall make every reasonable effort to
134 ensure that any school designated as a “severe need school”
135 receives the highest rate of reimbursement to which it is
136 entitled under 42 U.S.C. s. 1773 for each breakfast meal served.
137 (h) The department shall annually allocate among the school
138 districts funds provided from the school breakfast supplement in
139 the General Appropriations Act based on each district’s total
140 number of free and reduced-price breakfast meals served.
141 (6) The Legislature, recognizing that school children need
142 nutritious food not only for healthy physical and intellectual
143 development but also to combat diseases related to poor
144 nutrition and obesity, establishes the Florida Farm Fresh
145 Schools Program within the department of Education as the lead
146 agency for the program. The program shall comply with the
147 regulations of the National School Lunch Program and require:
148 (a) The department of Education to work with the Department
149 of Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop policies
150 pertaining to school food services which encourage:
151 1. School districts to buy fresh and high-quality foods
152 grown in this state when feasible.
153 2. Farmers in this state to sell their products to school
154 districts and schools.
155 3. School districts and schools to demonstrate a preference
156 for competitively priced organic food products.
157 (b) School districts and schools to make reasonable efforts
158 to select foods based on a preference for those that have
159 maximum nutritional content.
160 (c) The department of Education, in collaboration with the
161 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to provide
162 outreach, guidance, and training to school districts, schools,
163 school food service directors, parent and teacher organizations,
164 and students about the benefits of fresh food products from
165 farms in this state.
166 Section 5. Section 1006.0606, Florida Statutes, is
167 transferred, renumbered as section 570.982, Florida Statutes,
168 and amended to read:
169 570.982 1006.0606 Children’s summer nutrition program.—
170 (1) This section may be cited as the “Ms. Willie Ann Glenn
171 Act.”
172 (2) Each district school board shall develop a plan by May
173 1, 2006, to sponsor a summer nutrition program beginning the
174 summer of 2006 to operate sites in the school district as
175 follows:
176 (a) Within 5 miles of at least one elementary school at
177 which 50 percent or more of the students are eligible for free
178 or reduced-price school meals and for the duration of 35
179 consecutive days; and
180 (b) Except as operated pursuant to paragraph (a), within 10
181 miles of each elementary school at which 50 percent or more of
182 the students are eligible for free or reduced-price school
183 meals.
184 (3)(a) A district school board boards may be exempt from
185 sponsoring a summer nutrition program pursuant to this section.
186 A district school board seeking such exemption must include the
187 issue on an agenda at a regular or special district school board
188 meeting that is publicly noticed, provide residents an
189 opportunity to participate in the discussion, and vote on
190 whether to be exempt from this section. The district school
191 board shall notify the commissioner of Education within 10 days
192 after it decides to become exempt from this section.
193 (b) Each year the district school board shall reconsider
194 its decision to be exempt from the provisions of this section
195 and shall vote on whether to continue the exemption from
196 sponsoring a summer nutrition program. The district school board
197 shall notify the commissioner of Education within 10 days after
198 each subsequent year’s decision to continue the exemption.
199 (c) If a district school board elects to be exempt from
200 sponsoring a summer nutrition program under this section, the
201 district school board may encourage not-for-profit entities to
202 sponsor the program. If a not-for-profit entity chooses to
203 sponsor the summer nutrition program but fails to perform with
204 regard to the program, the district school board, the school
205 district, and the department of Education are not required to
206 continue the program and shall be held harmless from any
207 liability arising from the discontinuation of the summer
208 nutrition program.
209 (4) The superintendent of schools may collaborate with
210 municipal and county governmental agencies and private, not-for
211 profit leaders in implementing the plan. Although schools have
212 proven to be the optimal site for a summer nutrition program,
213 any not-for-profit entity may serve as a site or sponsor. By
214 April 15 of each year, each school district with a summer
215 nutrition program shall report to the department the district’s
216 summer nutrition program sites in compliance with this section.
217 (5) The department shall provide to each district school
218 board by February 15 of each year a list of local organizations
219 that have filed letters of intent to participate in the summer
220 nutrition program in order that a district school board is able
221 to determine how many sites are needed to serve the children and
222 where to place each site.
223 Section 6. Section 1010.77, Florida Statutes, is
224 transferred, renumbered as section 570.983, Florida Statutes,
225 and amended to read:
226 570.983 1010.77 Food and Nutrition Services Trust Fund.
227 Chapter 99-34, Laws of Florida, re-created the Food and
228 Nutrition Services Trust Fund to record revenue and
229 disbursements of Federal Food and Nutrition funds received by
230 the department of Education as authorized in s. 570.981 s.
231 1006.06.
232 Section 7. Section 1003.453, Florida Statutes, is amended
233 to read:
234 1003.453 School wellness and physical education policies;
235 nutrition guidelines.—
236 (1) By September 1, 2006, Each school district shall submit
237 to the Department of Education a copy of its school wellness
238 policy as required by the Child Nutrition and WIC
239 Reauthorization Act of 2004 and a copy of its physical education
240 policy required under s. 1003.455. Each school district shall
241 annually review its school wellness policy and physical
242 education policy and provide a procedure for public input and
243 revisions. In addition, each school district shall send an
244 updated copy of its wellness policy and physical education
245 policy to the department and to the Department of Agriculture
246 and Consumer Services when a change or revision is made.
247 (2) By December 1, 2006, The department shall post links to
248 each school district’s school wellness policy and physical
249 education policy on its website so that the policies can be
250 accessed and reviewed by the public. Each school district shall
251 provide the most current versions of its school wellness policy
252 and physical education policy on the district’s website.
253 (3) By December 1, 2006, The department must provide on its
254 website links to resources that include information regarding:
255 (a) Classroom instruction on the benefits of exercise and
256 healthful eating.
257 (b) Classroom instruction on the health hazards of using
258 tobacco and being exposed to tobacco smoke.
259 (c) The eight components of a coordinated school health
260 program, including health education, physical education, health
261 services, and nutrition services.
262 (d) The core measures for school health and wellness, such
263 as the School Health Index.
264 (e) Access for each student to the nutritional content of
265 foods and beverages and to healthful food choices in accordance
266 with the dietary guidelines of the United States Department of
267 Agriculture. This information shall also be accessible from the
268 website of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
269 (f) Multiple examples of school wellness policies for
270 school districts.
271 (g) Examples of wellness classes that provide nutrition
272 education for teachers and school support staff, including
273 encouragement to provide classes that are taught by a licensed
274 nutrition professional from the school nutrition department.
275 (4) School districts are encouraged to provide basic
276 training in first aid, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation,
277 for all students, beginning in grade 6 and every 2 years
278 thereafter. Private and public partnerships for providing
279 training or necessary funding are encouraged.
280 Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.