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Public Act 095-0155
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| HB1964 Enrolled |
LRB095 09726 NHT 29930 b |
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AN ACT concerning education.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, |
represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Childhood Hunger
Relief Act is amended by |
changing Section 20 as follows:
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(105 ILCS 126/20)
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Sec. 20. Summer food service program.
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(a) The State Board of Education shall promulgate a State |
plan for
summer food service programs, in accordance with 42 |
U.S.C. Sec. 1761 and any
other
applicable federal laws and |
regulations,
by February 1, 2008
January 15, 2006.
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(b) On or before February 15, 2008, a school district must |
promulgate a plan to have a summer breakfast or lunch (or both) |
food service program for each school (i) in which at least 50% |
of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price school |
meals and (ii) that has a summer school program. The plan must |
be implemented during the summer of 2008. Each summer food |
service program must operate for the duration of the school's |
summer school program. If the school district has one or more |
elementary schools that qualify, the summer food service |
program must be operated in a manner that ensures all eligible |
students receive services. If a school in which at least 50% of |
the students are eligible for free or reduced-price school |
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meals is not open during the summer months, the school shall |
provide information regarding the number of children in the |
school who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals |
upon request by a not-for-profit entity.
By the summer of 2006 |
and then each summer thereafter, it is strongly encouraged that |
the board of
education of each school
district in this State in |
which at least 50% of the students are eligible for
free or
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reduced-price school meals operate a summer food service |
program
or identify a non-profit or private agency to sponsor a |
summer food service
program within the school district's |
boundaries.
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(c) Summer food service programs established under this |
Section shall
may
be
supported by federal funds and commodities
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and other available State and local resources.
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(d) A school district shall be allowed to opt out of the
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summer food service program requirement of this Section if it |
is
determined that, due to circumstances specific to that |
school
district, the expense reimbursement would not fully |
cover the
costs of implementing and operating a summer food |
service program.
The school district shall petition its |
regional superintendent
of schools by January 15 to request to |
be exempt from the
summer food service program requirement. The |
petition shall
include all legitimate costs associated with |
implementing and
operating a summer food service program, the |
estimated
reimbursement from State and federal sources, and any |
unique
circumstances the school district can verify that exist |
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that
would cause the implementation and operation of such a |
program
to be cost prohibitive. |
The regional superintendent of schools shall review the
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petition. He or she shall convene a public hearing to hear
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testimony from the school district and interested community
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members. The regional superintendent shall, by March 1,
inform |
the school district of his or her decision, along with
the |
reasons why the exemption was granted or denied, in
writing. If |
the regional superintendent grants an exemption to
the school |
district, then the school district is relieved from
the |
requirement to establish and implement a summer food service
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program. |
If the regional superintendent of schools does not grant an
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exemption to the school district, then the school district
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shall implement and operate a summer food service program in
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accordance with this Section the summer following the current |
school year. However, the school district or a resident of the
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school district may appeal the decision of the regional
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superintendent to the State Superintendent of Education. No
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later than April 1 of each year, the State Superintendent
shall |
hear appeals on the decisions of regional superintendents
of |
schools. The State Superintendent shall make a final
decision |
at the conclusion of the hearing on the school
district's |
request for an exemption from the summer food service
program |
requirement. If the State Superintendent grants an
exemption to |
the school district, then the school district is
relieved from |