82R1032 CAS-F
By: Rodriguez H.B. No. 643
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to summer nutrition programs provided for by school
districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 12, Agriculture Code, is amended by
adding Section 12.0029 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.0029. SUMMER NUTRITION PROGRAMS. (a) In this
section:
(1) "Agency" means the Texas Education Agency.
(2) "Field office" means a field office of a nutrition
program administered by the department.
(3) "Summer nutrition program" means the summer food
service program under 42 U.S.C. Section 1761. The term includes the
seamless summer option under 42 U.S.C. Section 1761(a)(8).
(b) Unless the department grants a school district a waiver
under Subsection (f), a district in which 50 percent or more of the
students are eligible to participate in the national free or
reduced-priced lunch program under 42 U.S.C. Section 1751 et seq.
shall provide or arrange for the provision of a summer nutrition
program for at least 30 weekdays during the period in which district
schools are recessed for the summer.
(c) Not later than October 31 of each year, the department
shall notify of its responsibility concerning provision of a summer
nutrition program during the next period in which school is
recessed for the summer:
(1) each school district described by Subsection (b);
and
(2) each field office.
(d) Not later than November 30 of each year, the board of
trustees of a school district that intends to request a waiver under
Subsection (e)(2) must send written notice of the district's
intention to the district's local school health advisory council.
The notice must include an explanation of the district's reason for
requesting a waiver of the requirement.
(e) Each school district that receives a notice under
Subsection (c) shall, not later than January 31 of the year
following the year in which the notice was received:
(1) inform the department in writing that the district
intends to operate a summer nutrition program during the next
period in which district schools are recessed for the summer; or
(2) request in writing that the department grant the
district a waiver of the requirement to operate a summer nutrition
program.
(f) The department may grant a school district a waiver of
the requirement to operate a summer nutrition program only if:
(1) the board of trustees of the district by
resolution has authorized the district's request for a waiver;
(2) the district provides documentation, verified by
the department, showing that:
(A) there are fewer than 100 children in the
district currently eligible for the national free or reduced-priced
lunch program;
(B) transportation to enable district students
to participate in the program is an insurmountable obstacle to
providing the program despite consultation by the district with
public transit providers;
(C) the district is unable to operate a summer
nutrition program due to renovation or construction of district
facilities and the unavailability of an appropriate alternate
provider or site; or
(D) the district is unable to operate a summer
nutrition program due to another specified extenuating
circumstance and the unavailability of an appropriate alternate
provider or site; and
(3) the district has worked with the field offices to
identify another possible provider for the summer nutrition program
in the district.
(g) A waiver granted under Subsection (f) is for a one-year
period.
(h) If a school district has requested a waiver under
Subsection (e)(2) and has been unable to provide to the department a
list of possible providers for the summer nutrition program, the
field offices shall continue to attempt to identify an alternate
provider for the district's summer nutrition program.
(i) The department and the agency jointly shall develop a
plan for increasing access to summer nutrition programs. The plan
must include a list of any barrier to access to the programs,
including a barrier that a provider encounters in providing a
program and a description of any action taken to overcome a barrier.
The department and the agency each shall designate an agency
administrative employee to assist in administering this
subsection.
(j) Not later than December 31 of each even-numbered year,
the department and the agency shall provide to the legislature a
joint report that, for each year of the biennium:
(1) states the name of each school district that
receives a notice under Subsection (c) and indicates whether the
district:
(A) has provided for a summer nutrition program;
or
(B) has failed to provide a program;
(2) provides an explanation, as applicable, of the
plan required under Subsection (i) or of any update to the plan; and
(3) identifies the funds, other than federal funds,
used by school districts and the state in complying with this
section.
(k) The commissioner of agriculture, in consultation with
the commissioner of education, shall adopt rules and procedures for
obtaining a waiver under Subsection (f). The commissioner of
agriculture shall adopt other rules as necessary to administer this
section.
SECTION 2. Section 33.024, Human Resources Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.