BILL NUMBER: AB 1449INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Lopez FEBRUARY 27, 2015 An act relating to pupil nutrition. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1449, as introduced, Lopez. Pupil nutrition: prepackaged meals for pupils eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Existing law requires each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each school day, as specified, and authorizes a school district or county office of education to use funds available through any federal or state program for those purposes, as specified. This bill would express the Legislature's intent to enact legislation that would enable schools that are not eligible for federal Title I funds to provide prepackaged meals to pupils attending the school who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) A needy child who transfers from a school supported with funds authorized under Title I of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) to a better performing school that is not supported by Title I funds may lose access to free or reduced-price school breakfast. (2) Often these children are caught between a rock and a hard place and end up trying to learn on an empty stomach. Although these children may continue to be eligible to receive a free or reduced-price breakfast at the school from which the child transferred, the reality is an overwhelming number of these children do not have the luxury of squeezing in the extra travel time each morning. (3) Extra kitchen staff or extra staff time is expensive. However, having prepackaged foods that do not require onsite preparation reduces demands upon school staff. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would enable schools that are not eligible for funds authorized under Title I of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to provide prepackaged meals to pupils who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.