Florida Senate - 2011                      CS for CS for SB 1312
       
       
       
       By the Committees on Budget; and Agriculture; and Senators
       Siplin and Gaetz
       
       
       
       576-04673-11                                          20111312c2
    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; creating the Healthy Schools for
   36         Healthy Lives Council within the Department of
   37         Agriculture and Consumer Services; requiring the
   38         Commissioner of Agriculture to appoint members of the
   39         council; providing duties of the council; providing
   40         requirements for the meetings, powers, duties,
   41         procedures, and recordkeeping of the council;
   42         requiring the Department of Education, in consultation
   43         with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
   44         Services, to develop and submit a request for a waiver
   45         to the United States Department of Agriculture to
   46         transfer administration of the school food service and
   47         nutrition programs; requiring the Department of
   48         Education to notify the Governor and the Legislature
   49         regarding the decision of the United States Department
   50         of Agriculture; providing for contingent effect based
   51         upon federal approval of a request for a waiver;
   52         providing effective dates.
   53  
   54  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   55  
   56         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Healthy Schools
   57  for Healthy Lives Act.”
   58         Section 2. All powers, duties, functions, records,
   59  personnel, property, pending issues and existing contracts,
   60  administrative authority, administrative rules, and unexpended
   61  balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds for the
   62  administration of the school food and nutrition programs are
   63  transferred by a type two transfer, as defined in s. 20.06(2),
   64  Florida Statutes, from the Department of Education to the
   65  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
   66         Section 3. Section 570.98, Florida Statutes, is created to
   67  read:
   68         570.98School food and nutrition programs.—
   69         (1) The department shall conduct, supervise, and administer
   70  all school food and nutrition programs that will be carried out
   71  using federal or state funds, or funds from any other source.
   72         (2) The department shall cooperate fully with the United
   73  States Government and its agencies and instrumentalities so that
   74  the department may receive the benefit of all federal financial
   75  allotments and assistance possible to carry out the purposes of
   76  this chapter.
   77         (3) The department may act as agent of, or contract with,
   78  the Federal Government, another state agency, or any county or
   79  municipal government for the administration of the school food
   80  and nutrition programs, including the distribution of funds
   81  provided by the Federal Government to support the school food
   82  and nutrition programs.
   83         Section 4. Section 1006.06, Florida Statutes, is
   84  transferred, renumbered as section 570.981, Florida Statutes,
   85  and amended to read:
   86         570.981 1006.06 School food service programs.—
   87         (1) In recognition of the demonstrated relationship between
   88  good nutrition and the capacity of students to develop and
   89  learn, it is the policy of the state to provide standards for
   90  school food service and to require district school boards to
   91  establish and maintain an appropriate private school food
   92  service program consistent with the nutritional needs of
   93  students.
   94         (2) The department State Board of Education shall adopt
   95  rules covering the administration and operation of the school
   96  food service programs.
   97         (3) Each district school board shall consider the
   98  recommendations of the district school superintendent and adopt
   99  policies to provide for an appropriate food and nutrition
  100  program for students consistent with federal law and department
  101  State Board of Education rule.
  102         (4) The state shall provide the state National School Lunch
  103  Act matching requirements. The funds provided shall be
  104  distributed in such a manner as to comply with the requirements
  105  of the National School Lunch Act.
  106         (5)(a) Each district school board shall implement school
  107  breakfast programs that make breakfast meals available to all
  108  students in each elementary school. By the beginning of the
  109  2010-2011 school year, Universal school breakfast programs shall
  110  be offered in schools in which 80 percent or more of the
  111  students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Each
  112  school shall, to the maximum extent practicable, make breakfast
  113  meals available to students at an alternative site location,
  114  which may include, but need not be limited to, alternative
  115  breakfast options as described in publications of the Food and
  116  Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture
  117  for the federal School Breakfast Program.
  118         (b) Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, Each school
  119  district must annually set prices for breakfast meals at rates
  120  that, combined with federal reimbursements and state
  121  allocations, are sufficient to defray costs of school breakfast
  122  programs without requiring allocations from the district’s
  123  operating funds, except if the district school board approves
  124  lower rates.
  125         (c) Each district school board is encouraged to provide
  126  universal-free school breakfast meals to all students in each
  127  elementary, middle, and high school. By the beginning of the
  128  2010-2011 school year, Each district school board shall approve
  129  or disapprove a policy, after receiving public testimony
  130  concerning the proposed policy at two or more regular meetings,
  131  which makes universal-free school breakfast meals available to
  132  all students in each elementary, middle, and high school in
  133  which 80 percent or more of the students are eligible for free
  134  or reduced-price meals.
  135         (d) Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, Each
  136  elementary, middle, and high school shall make a breakfast meal
  137  available if a student arrives at school on the school bus less
  138  than 15 minutes before the first bell rings and shall allow the
  139  student at least 15 minutes to eat the breakfast.
  140         (e) Each school district shall annually provide to all
  141  students in each elementary, middle, and high school information
  142  prepared by the district’s food service administration regarding
  143  its school breakfast programs. The information shall be
  144  communicated through school announcements and written notice
  145  sent to all parents.
  146         (f) A district school board may operate a breakfast program
  147  providing for food preparation at the school site or in central
  148  locations with distribution to designated satellite schools or
  149  any combination thereof.
  150         (g) The commissioner shall make every reasonable effort to
  151  ensure that any school designated as a “severe need school”
  152  receives the highest rate of reimbursement to which it is
  153  entitled under 42 U.S.C. s. 1773 for each breakfast meal served.
  154         (h) The department shall annually allocate among the school
  155  districts funds provided from the school breakfast supplement in
  156  the General Appropriations Act based on each district’s total
  157  number of free and reduced-price breakfast meals served.
  158         (6) The Legislature, recognizing that school children need
  159  nutritious food not only for healthy physical and intellectual
  160  development but also to combat diseases related to poor
  161  nutrition and obesity, establishes the Florida Farm Fresh
  162  Schools Program within the department of Education as the lead
  163  agency for the program. The program shall comply with the
  164  regulations of the National School Lunch Program and require:
  165         (a) The department of Education to work with the Department
  166  of Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop policies
  167  pertaining to school food services which encourage:
  168         1. School districts to buy fresh and high-quality foods
  169  grown in this state when feasible.
  170         2. Farmers in this state to sell their products to school
  171  districts and schools.
  172         3. School districts and schools to demonstrate a preference
  173  for competitively priced organic food products.
  174         (b) School districts and schools to make reasonable efforts
  175  to select foods based on a preference for those that have
  176  maximum nutritional content.
  177         (c) The department of Education, in collaboration with the
  178  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to provide
  179  outreach, guidance, and training to school districts, schools,
  180  school food service directors, parent and teacher organizations,
  181  and students about the benefits of fresh food products from
  182  farms in this state.
  183         Section 5. Section 1006.0606, Florida Statutes, is
  184  transferred, renumbered as section 570.982, Florida Statutes,
  185  and amended to read:
  186         570.982 1006.0606 Children’s summer nutrition program.—
  187         (1) This section may be cited as the “Ms. Willie Ann Glenn
  188  Act.”
  189         (2) Each district school board shall develop a plan by May
  190  1, 2006, to sponsor a summer nutrition program beginning the
  191  summer of 2006 to operate sites in the school district as
  192  follows:
  193         (a) Within 5 miles of at least one elementary school at
  194  which 50 percent or more of the students are eligible for free
  195  or reduced-price school meals and for the duration of 35
  196  consecutive days; and
  197         (b) Except as operated pursuant to paragraph (a), within 10
  198  miles of each elementary school at which 50 percent or more of
  199  the students are eligible for free or reduced-price school
  200  meals.
  201         (3)(a) A district school board boards may be exempt from
  202  sponsoring a summer nutrition program pursuant to this section.
  203  A district school board seeking such exemption must include the
  204  issue on an agenda at a regular or special district school board
  205  meeting that is publicly noticed, provide residents an
  206  opportunity to participate in the discussion, and vote on
  207  whether to be exempt from this section. The district school
  208  board shall notify the commissioner of Education within 10 days
  209  after it decides to become exempt from this section.
  210         (b) Each year the district school board shall reconsider
  211  its decision to be exempt from the provisions of this section
  212  and shall vote on whether to continue the exemption from
  213  sponsoring a summer nutrition program. The district school board
  214  shall notify the commissioner of Education within 10 days after
  215  each subsequent year’s decision to continue the exemption.
  216         (c) If a district school board elects to be exempt from
  217  sponsoring a summer nutrition program under this section, the
  218  district school board may encourage not-for-profit entities to
  219  sponsor the program. If a not-for-profit entity chooses to
  220  sponsor the summer nutrition program but fails to perform with
  221  regard to the program, the district school board, the school
  222  district, and the department of Education are not required to
  223  continue the program and shall be held harmless from any
  224  liability arising from the discontinuation of the summer
  225  nutrition program.
  226         (4) The superintendent of schools may collaborate with
  227  municipal and county governmental agencies and private, not-for
  228  profit leaders in implementing the plan. Although schools have
  229  proven to be the optimal site for a summer nutrition program,
  230  any not-for-profit entity may serve as a site or sponsor. By
  231  April 15 of each year, each school district with a summer
  232  nutrition program shall report to the department the district’s
  233  summer nutrition program sites in compliance with this section.
  234         (5) The department shall provide to each district school
  235  board by February 15 of each year a list of local organizations
  236  that have filed letters of intent to participate in the summer
  237  nutrition program in order that a district school board is able
  238  to determine how many sites are needed to serve the children and
  239  where to place each site.
  240         Section 6. Section 1010.77, Florida Statutes, is
  241  transferred, renumbered as section 570.983, Florida Statutes,
  242  and amended to read:
  243         570.983 1010.77 Food and Nutrition Services Trust Fund.
  244  Chapter 99-34, Laws of Florida, re-created the Food and
  245  Nutrition Services Trust Fund to record revenue and
  246  disbursements of Federal Food and Nutrition funds received by
  247  the department of Education as authorized in s. 570.981 s.
  248  1006.06.
  249         Section 7. Section 1003.453, Florida Statutes, is amended
  250  to read:
  251         1003.453 School wellness and physical education policies;
  252  nutrition guidelines.—
  253         (1) By September 1, 2006, Each school district shall submit
  254  to the Department of Education a copy of its school wellness
  255  policy as required by the Child Nutrition and WIC
  256  Reauthorization Act of 2004 and a copy of its physical education
  257  policy required under s. 1003.455. Each school district shall
  258  annually review its school wellness policy and physical
  259  education policy and provide a procedure for public input and
  260  revisions. In addition, each school district shall send an
  261  updated copy of its wellness policy and physical education
  262  policy to the department and to the Department of Agriculture
  263  and Consumer Services when a change or revision is made.
  264         (2) By December 1, 2006, The department shall post links to
  265  each school district’s school wellness policy and physical
  266  education policy on its website so that the policies can be
  267  accessed and reviewed by the public. Each school district shall
  268  provide the most current versions of its school wellness policy
  269  and physical education policy on the district’s website.
  270         (3) By December 1, 2006, The department must provide on its
  271  website links to resources that include information regarding:
  272         (a) Classroom instruction on the benefits of exercise and
  273  healthful eating.
  274         (b) Classroom instruction on the health hazards of using
  275  tobacco and being exposed to tobacco smoke.
  276         (c) The eight components of a coordinated school health
  277  program, including health education, physical education, health
  278  services, and nutrition services.
  279         (d) The core measures for school health and wellness, such
  280  as the School Health Index.
  281         (e) Access for each student to the nutritional content of
  282  foods and beverages and to healthful food choices in accordance
  283  with the dietary guidelines of the United States Department of
  284  Agriculture. This information shall also be accessible from the
  285  website of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
  286         (f) Multiple examples of school wellness policies for
  287  school districts.
  288         (g) Examples of wellness classes that provide nutrition
  289  education for teachers and school support staff, including
  290  encouragement to provide classes that are taught by a licensed
  291  nutrition professional from the school nutrition department.
  292         (4) School districts are encouraged to provide basic
  293  training in first aid, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation,
  294  for all students, beginning in grade 6 and every 2 years
  295  thereafter. Private and public partnerships for providing
  296  training or necessary funding are encouraged.
  297         Section 8. (1) There is created within the Department of
  298  Agriculture and Consumer Services the Healthy Schools for
  299  Healthy Lives Council, which shall consist of 11 members
  300  appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture. The council shall
  301  advise the department on matters relating to nutritional
  302  standards and the prevention of childhood obesity, nutrition
  303  education, anaphylaxis, and other needs to further the
  304  development of the various school nutrition programs.
  305         (2) The meetings, powers, duties, procedures, and
  306  recordkeeping of the Healthy Schools for Healthy Lives Council
  307  shall be governed by s. 570.0705, Florida Statutes, relating to
  308  advisory committees established within the department.
  309         Section 9. This section shall take effect upon this act
  310  becoming a law and, within 30 days thereafter, the Department of
  311  Education, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture
  312  and Consumer Services, shall develop and submit to the United
  313  States Department of Agriculture a request for a waiver required
  314  to transfer administration of the school food service and
  315  nutrition programs from the Department of Education to the
  316  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Upon receipt of
  317  the United States Department of Agriculture’s approval or denial
  318  of the request for a waiver, the Department of Education shall
  319  immediately notify in writing the Governor, the President of the
  320  Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
  321  regarding the decision of the United States Department of
  322  Agriculture. The notification shall include a copy of the United
  323  States Department of Agriculture’s approval or denial of the
  324  request for a waiver.
  325         Section 10. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
  326  act and except for this section, which shall take effect upon
  327  this act becoming a law, this act shall take effect January 1,
  328  2012, if the United States Department of Agriculture approves
  329  the request for a waiver, pursuant to section 9 of this act, on
  330  or before November 1, 2011.