Signed by Governor Charlie Baker

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to amend and pass a bill that requires school districts where over 60 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunches offer breakfast after instruction begins.

Highlights:

• Requires the board to establish minimum nutritional standards for all school food services in all public elementary, secondary, and vocational-technical schools (Sec. 1).

• Requires all public schools to make lunches available to children (Sec. 1).

• Requires all public schools that draw their attendance from areas with a high number of needy children to make school breakfast programs available to children who do not qualify for free or reduced-price breakfast under federal income eligibility guidelines at a cost that is not less than the cost to the school of making such breakfast available to such child (Sec. 1).

• Requires all schools where not less than 60 percent of the students at the school are eligible for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program to offer all students a school breakfast after instruction begins, including, but not limited to breakfast in the classroom, grab and go breakfast, or second chance breakfast (Sec. 1). 

• Requires the department to annually collect information about availability and participation rates in breakfast programs, and make the information available to the public (Sec. 1).

• Requires the secretary for administration and finance to convene a working committee to establish guidelines for the purpose of reimbursing cities and towns for the reasonable costs associated with implementation of school breakfast programs (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes the board to require all public schools to provide for immunization against Hepatitis B for any school employee who works with developmentally disabled students and requests such immunization, provided the employee’s own health insurance does not cover the immunization (Sec. 1).

• Requires the department to make an initial determination of all public schools in the commonwealth required to offer a school breakfast after instruction begins not later than December 31, 2021 (Sec. 2).

• Specifies that schools required to offer breakfast after instruction begins must begin doing so not later than the beginning of the academic year beginning in 2022 (Sec. 2). 

• Authorizes the requirement to provide breakfast after instruction begins to be waived for 1 year if a public school demonstrates that in the previous academic year it consistently met an 80 percent or higher breakfast program participation rate with its current delivery model or if the school demonstrates an extreme hardship to implementation (Sec. 2).

• Requires a public school to demonstrate the progress it has made toward implementation and a plan for completion of implementation by the end of the 1-year waiver period within 3 months after a waiver is granted (Sec. 2).

Full Bill Text