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91_HB2379enr
HB2379 Enrolled LRB9103052NTsb
1 AN ACT concerning nutritional services for children.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The School Free Lunch Program Act is amended
5 by changing the title of the Act and Sections 0.01, 1, 2, 3,
6 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 and by adding Sections 0.05 and 2.5 as
7 follows:
8 (105 ILCS 125/Act title)
9 An Act authorizing school boards and welfare centers to
10 sponsor community school breakfast and lunch programs and
11 free breakfast and lunch programs and authorizing and
12 requiring free school lunch programs, providing for State
13 reimbursement.
14 (105 ILCS 125/0.01) (from Ch. 122, par. 712.01)
15 Sec. 0.01. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
16 School Breakfast and Free Lunch Program Act.
17 (Source: P.A. 86-1324.)
18 (105 ILCS 125/0.05 new)
19 Sec. 0.05. State policy and legislative intent. The
20 General Assembly recognizes that hunger and food security are
21 serious problems in the State of Illinois with as many as one
22 million citizens being affected. These citizens have lost
23 their sense of food security. It is estimated that just
24 under 600,000 Illinois children experience hunger or food
25 insecurity, meaning that they either go without eating meals,
26 or their parents cannot provide the kinds of food they need.
27 Because low-income children are not being adequately
28 nourished, even to the point where many are arriving at
29 school hungry, the General Assembly believes it is in the
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1 best interest of Illinois to utilize resources available
2 through existing child nutrition programs, to the fullest
3 extent possible.
4 The General Assembly also recognizes a definite
5 correlation between adequate child nutrition and a child's
6 physical, emotional, and cognitive development. There is
7 also a correlation between adequate nutrition and a child's
8 ability to perform well in school. In this regard, the
9 General Assembly realizes the importance of the National
10 School Breakfast Program as an effective measure that must be
11 widely implemented to insure more adequate nutrition for
12 Illinois children.
13 (105 ILCS 125/1) (from Ch. 122, par. 712.1)
14 Sec. 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act:
15 "School board" means school principal, directors, board
16 of education and board of school inspectors of public and
17 private schools.
18 "Welfare center" means an institution not otherwise
19 receiving funds from any governmental agency, serving
20 breakfasts or lunches to children of school age or under, in
21 conformance with the authorized free breakfast program,
22 school breakfast program, free lunch program, or school lunch
23 program.
24 "Free breakfast program" means those programs through
25 which school boards may supply needy children in their
26 respective districts with free school breakfasts.
27 "Free lunch program" means those programs through which
28 school boards supply all of the needy children in their
29 respective districts with free school lunches.
30 "School breakfast program" means a school breakfast
31 program that meets the requirements for school breakfast
32 programs under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C.
33 1771 et seq.).
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1 "School lunch program" means a school lunch program that
2 meets the requirements for school lunch programs under the
3 National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) the
4 program whereby certain types of lunches called balanced,
5 nutritious lunches adopted as standard types and designated
6 by the State Board of Education, are furnished to students.
7 "Comptroller" means Comptroller of the State of Illinois.
8 (Source: P.A. 81-1508.)
9 (105 ILCS 125/2) (from Ch. 122, par. 712.2)
10 Sec. 2. Reimbursement of sponsors. The State Board of
11 Education is authorized to reimburse school boards and,
12 welfare centers that operate free breakfast programs, school
13 breakfast programs, free lunch programs, or, and other
14 designated sponsors of school lunch programs for a portion of
15 the costs of food served in balanced, nutritious breakfasts
16 or lunches, and served to students in schools operated not
17 for profit, in non-profit public or private parochial schools
18 and non-profit welfare centers.
19 The State Board of Education shall reimburse not less
20 than $0.15 or the actual cost, whichever is less, to School
21 Boards for each free lunch and not less than $0.15 or the
22 actual cost, whichever is less, for each free breakfast
23 supplied by them. This appropriation shall be in addition to
24 any federal contributions for Free Lunch Programs.
25 (Source: P.A. 83-728.)
26 (105 ILCS 125/2.5 new)
27 Sec. 2.5. Breakfast incentive program. The State Board
28 of Education shall fund a breakfast incentive program
29 comprised of the components described in paragraphs (1), (2),
30 and (3) of this Section, provided that a separate
31 appropriation is made for the purposes of this Section. The
32 State Board of Education may allocate the appropriation among
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1 the program components in whatever manner the State Board of
2 Education finds will best serve the goal of increasing
3 participation in school breakfast programs. If the amount of
4 the appropriation allocated under paragraph (1), (2), or (3)
5 of this Section is insufficient to fund all claims submitted
6 under that particular paragraph, the claims under that
7 paragraph shall be prorated.
8 (1) The State Board of Education may reimburse each
9 sponsor of a school breakfast program an additional $0.10
10 for each free, reduced-price, and paid breakfast served
11 over and above the number of such breakfasts served in
12 the same month during the preceding year, provided that
13 the number of breakfasts served by the sponsor in that
14 month is at least 10% greater than the number of
15 breakfasts served in the same month during the preceding
16 year.
17 (2) The State Board of Education may make grants to
18 school boards and welfare centers that agree to start a
19 school breakfast program in one or more schools or other
20 sites. First priority for these grants shall be given to
21 schools in which 50% or more of their students are
22 eligible for free and reduced price meals under the
23 National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.).
24 Depending on the availability of funds and the rate at
25 which funds are being utilized, the State Board of
26 Education is authorized to allow additional schools or
27 other sites to receive these grants. In making
28 additional grants, the State Board of Education shall
29 provide for priority to be given to schools with the
30 highest percentage of students eligible for free and
31 reduced price lunches under the National School Lunch
32 Act. The amount of the grant shall be $3,500 for each
33 qualifying school or site in which a school breakfast
34 program is started. The grants shall be used to pay the
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1 start-up costs for the school breakfast program,
2 including equipment, supplies, and program promotion, but
3 shall not be used for food, labor, or other recurring
4 operational costs. Applications for the grants shall be
5 made to the State Board of Education on forms designated
6 by the State Board of Education. Any grantee that fails
7 to operate a school breakfast program for at least 3
8 years after receipt of a grant shall refund the amount of
9 the grant to the State Board of Education.
10 (3) The State Board of Education may reimburse a
11 school board for each free, reduced-price, or paid
12 breakfast served in a school breakfast program located in
13 a school in which 80% or more of the students are
14 eligible to receive free or reduced price lunches under
15 the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) in
16 an amount equal to the difference between (i) the current
17 amount reimbursed by the federal government for a free
18 breakfast and (ii) the amount actually reimbursed by the
19 federal government for that free, reduced-price, or paid
20 breakfast. A school board that receives reimbursement
21 under this paragraph (3) shall not be eligible in the
22 same year to receive reimbursement under paragraph (1) of
23 this Section.
24 (105 ILCS 125/3) (from Ch. 122, par. 712.3)
25 Sec. 3. Agreements with sponsors; standardized
26 breakfasts and lunches. The State Board of Education is
27 authorized to enter into agreements with the sponsors of free
28 breakfast programs, school breakfast programs, free lunch
29 programs, and school lunch programs, and shall prepare a
30 standardized, general list of type breakfasts and lunches,
31 for which the State will reimburse, subject to the provisions
32 of Section 8, the sponsors of such school lunch programs.
33 The State Board of Education is also authorized to enter
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1 into agreements with any governmental agency, school boards,
2 corporations, private individuals, or welfare centers which
3 would permit the distribution or processing of surplus
4 commodities or in any other way tend to improve the school
5 breakfast program or school lunch program.
6 (Source: P.A. 87-420.)
7 (105 ILCS 125/4) (from Ch. 122, par. 712.4)
8 Sec. 4. Accounts; copies of menus served; free lunch
9 program required; report. School boards and welfare centers
10 shall keep an accurate, detailed and separate account of all
11 moneys expended for school breakfast programs, school lunch
12 programs, and free breakfast programs, and free lunch
13 programs, and of the amounts for which they are reimbursed by
14 any governmental agency, moneys received from students and
15 from any other contributors to the program. School boards and
16 welfare centers shall also keep on file a copy of all menus
17 served under the programs school lunch program or free
18 breakfast or free lunch program, which together with all
19 records of receipts and disbursements, shall be made
20 available to representatives of the State Board of Education
21 at any time.
22 Every public school must have a free lunch program in
23 effect by September 1, 1970.
24 In 2001 and in each subsequent year, the State Board of
25 Education shall provide to the Governor and the General
26 Assembly, by a date not later than March 1, a report that
27 provides all of the following:
28 (1) A list by school district of all schools, the
29 total student enrollment, and the number of children
30 eligible for free, reduced price, and paid breakfasts and
31 lunches.
32 (2) A list of schools that have started breakfast
33 programs during the past year along with information on
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1 which schools have utilized the $3,500 start-up grants
2 and the additional $0.10 per meal increased participation
3 incentives established under Section 2.5 of this Act.
4 (3) A list of schools that have used the school
5 breakfast program option outlined in this Act, a list of
6 schools that have exercised Provision Two or Provision
7 Three under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C.
8 1771 et seq.), and a list of schools that have dropped
9 either school lunch or school breakfast programs during
10 the past year and the reasons why.
11 In 2001, 2003, and 2005 the report required by this
12 Section shall also include information that documents the
13 results of surveys designed to identify parental interest in
14 school breakfast programs and documents barriers to
15 establishing school breakfast programs. To develop the
16 surveys for school administrators and for parents, the State
17 Board of Education shall work in coordination with the State
18 Board of Education's Child Nutrition Advisory Council and
19 local committees that involve parents, teachers, principals,
20 superintendents, business, and anti-hunger advocates,
21 organized by the State Board of Education to foster community
22 involvement. The State Board of Education is authorized to
23 distribute the surveys in all schools where there are no
24 school breakfast programs.
25 (Source: P.A. 81-1508.)
26 (105 ILCS 125/5) (from Ch. 122, par. 712.5)
27 Sec. 5. Application for participation in programs.
28 Applications for participation in the school breakfast
29 program, the school lunch program, the free breakfast
30 program, and the free lunch program shall be made on forms
31 provided by the State Board of Education and filed with the
32 State Board, through the Regional Superintendent of Schools.
33 (Source: P.A. 81-1508.)
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1 (105 ILCS 125/6) (from Ch. 122, par. 712.6)
2 Sec. 6. Disapproval or reduction of reimbursement. The
3 State Board of Education may disapprove any reimbursement if
4 it is found that balanced, nutritious meals are not served in
5 accordance with the prescribed standards.
6 The State Board of Education may reduce or disapprove the
7 amount of reimbursement if it is found that the total income
8 for the free breakfast program, school breakfast program,
9 free lunch program, or school lunch program exceeds the
10 expenditures therefor.
11 (Source: P.A. 87-420.)
12 (105 ILCS 125/7) (from Ch. 122, par. 712.7)
13 Sec. 7. Disbursement of funds. The funds appropriated
14 shall be paid to school boards and welfare centers in
15 accordance with the reimbursement rates established in
16 Section 2. If the total amount of the claims for
17 reimbursement for any school year exceeds the amount
18 appropriated for that year, the money shall be apportioned to
19 each claimant in an equitable manner based upon meals
20 claimed.
21 (Source: P.A. 87-420.)
22 (105 ILCS 125/8) (from Ch. 122, par. 712.8)
23 Sec. 8. Filing and forwarding claims for reimbursement.
24 School boards and welfare centers shall file claims for
25 reimbursement, on forms provided by the State Board of
26 Education, with the Regional Superintendent of Schools, on a
27 monthly basis as prescribed by the State Board of Education.
28 The Regional Superintendent of Schools shall sign and
29 forward to the State Board of Education one copy of each such
30 claim filed with him.
31 (Source: P.A. 87-420.)
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1 (105 ILCS 125/9) (from Ch. 122, par. 712.9)
2 Sec. 9. Certification and payment of claims. The State
3 Board of Education shall prepare and certify to the State
4 Comptroller at least monthly the amount due each board school
5 district and welfare center, whereupon the Comptroller shall
6 draw his warrants on the State Treasurer for the amounts
7 certified for the various school boards districts and welfare
8 centers.
9 (Source: P.A. 88-641, eff. 9-9-94.)
10 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
11 becoming law.
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