Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB275 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R1811 BEF-D
2	2	By: Rodriguez H.B. No. 275
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to methods to increase the number of students who
8	8	participate in school breakfast programs.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Chapter 12, Agriculture Code, is amended by
11	11	adding Sections 12.044 and 12.045 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 12.044. SCHOOL BREAKFAST PARTICIPATION INITIATIVES.
13	13	(a) In this section, "breakfast program" means the national school
14	14	breakfast program provided for by the Child Nutrition Act of 1966
15	15	(42 U.S.C. Section 1773).
16	16	(b) Each school district shall instruct its school health
17	17	advisory council to study and recommend to the district methods to
18	18	increase participation in the breakfast program. The school health
19	19	advisory council shall consider the likely benefit of a program to
20	20	educate parents on the importance to their children's health of a
21	21	regular eating schedule that includes breakfast.
22	22	(c) The department shall:
23	23	(1) encourage each school in which 60 percent or more
24	24	of the students qualify for free or reduced-price breakfast to
25	25	offer a free breakfast to all students in the school regardless of
26	26	family income; and
27	27	(2) encourage schools to investigate alternative
28	28	methods of serving breakfast, including serving breakfast after the
29	29	school day has begun.
30	30	Sec. 12.045. SCHOOL BREAKFAST PARTICIPATION EXPANSION
31	31	GRANTS. (a) In this section, "Provision 2" means the method of
32	32	certifying children for free or reduced-price meals under 7 C.F.R.
33	33	Section 245.9(b).
34	34	(b) The department by rule shall establish a competitive
35	35	grant program through which the department will award grants for
36	36	the implementation of school breakfast participation expansion
37	37	programs. The department shall determine the grant period and the
38	38	renewal procedures, if applicable.
39	39	(c) Grant proceeds may be used to fund expenses associated
40	40	with a school breakfast participation expansion program,
41	41	including:
42	42	(1) labor and training costs associated with
43	43	incorporating breakfast into the regular school day;
44	44	(2) the purchase price of insulated containers and
45	45	other equipment used to serve breakfast after the regular school
46	46	day has begun;
47	47	(3) costs associated with an outreach program to
48	48	publicize to parents the school breakfast expansion program; and
49	49	(4) incentive payments to school principals who meet
50	50	goals for increased school breakfast participation.
51	51	(d) Grants under this section may be funded by gift or
52	52	legislative appropriation. The department may receive gifts,
53	53	donations, and grants of money to assist in financing the
54	54	competitive grant program.
55	55	(e) An applicant for a grant under this section must be a
56	56	school district. The applicant may apply for a grant to fund a
57	57	school breakfast expansion program:
58	58	(1) for the entire district if the district meets the
59	59	eligibility requirements under Subsection (f); or
60	60	(2) in one or more schools that meet the eligibility
61	61	requirements under Subsection (f).
62	62	(f) A district is eligible to be considered for a grant
63	63	under this section if:
64	64	(1) 60 percent or more of the students in the district
65	65	or the applicable schools receive free or reduced-price meals in
66	66	the 2008-2009 school year;
67	67	(2) the district or schools do not currently use a
68	68	nontraditional method to serve school breakfast; and
69	69	(3) the number of students who receive breakfast from
70	70	the district or the applicable schools is less than 50 percent of
71	71	the number of students who receive lunch from the school.
72	72	(g) To apply for a grant, an applicant must submit a written
73	73	application to the department including a school breakfast
74	74	participation expansion plan that:
75	75	(1) identifies strategies that the district or schools
76	76	will use to incorporate breakfast into the regular school day and
77	77	increase the number of students who eat school breakfast;
78	78	(2) indicates whether the district or schools will
79	79	serve free meals to all students and, if so, indicates whether the
80	80	district or schools will use Provision 2 or another method to ensure
81	81	the integrity of claims for free or reduced-price meals;
82	82	(3) details how the grant proceeds will be used; and
83	83	(4) includes a goal for the percentage increase in the
84	84	number of students who will eat school breakfast during the grant
85	85	period.
86	86	(h) Each grant recipient must submit a report to the
87	87	department quarterly that indicates:
88	88	(1) how the recipient is using the grant proceeds;
89	89	(2) the amount of grant proceeds the recipient has
90	90	spent; and
91	91	(3) the recipient's progress toward meeting its goal
92	92	under Subsection (g)(4).
93	93	(i) The department shall:
94	94	(1) develop requests for proposals associated with the
95	95	grant program;
96	96	(2) select grant recipients; and
97	97	(3) monitor each recipient's use of grant proceeds.
98	98	SECTION 2. Not later than December 1, 2009, the Department
99	99	of Agriculture shall establish and implement the school breakfast
100	100	participation expansion grant program under Section 12.045,
101	101	Agriculture Code, as added by this Act.
102	102	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.