Senate Bill 138 (McGuire), School Meal Programs: Free and Reduced-price Meals: Universal Meal Service (Chapter 724, Statutes of 2017) was signed into law on October 12, 2017. You can view this law on the California Legislative Information web page
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The law requires that local educational agencies (LEA) that have very high poverty schools, apply to operate a federal universal meal service provision each school year. LEAs must provide breakfast and lunch free of charge through the universal meal service to all pupils at the very high poverty schools upon state approval to operate that service. For additional information, please refer to Management Bulletin SNP-01-2018, which is posted on the California Department of Education web page.
Additionally, the law requires public school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program to directly certify children for both free and reduced-price meals, through the Medi-Cal data now available in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System. The California Department of Health Care Services utilizes Medi-Cal Records to capture family size and income data. The data exchange between state departments and LEAs takes place securely without disclosing a student’s Medi-Cal status, health information, or specific income data.
Federal Waivers
Based on the public health emergency due to COVID-19, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) established a nationwide waiver to support the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) while schools are responding to COVID-19. This waiver allows an extension to the CEP application deadline. The deadline to apply for CEP is now September 30, 2021. To review the complete language of the FNS CEP Waiver, please visit the USDA web page. Please note that LEAs may submit applications for the CEP or Provision 2 electronically.
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding the subject, please contact your county’s School Nutrition Programs (SNP) Specialist. A list of SNP Specialists is available in the Download Forms section of the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System, Form ID Caseload. You can also contact Jeremy Partsch, SNP Unit Office Technician, by phone at 916-322-3005 or 800-952-5609, Option 2, or by email at jpartsch@cde.ca.gov to be directed to your SNP Specialist.
Proposition 12 FAQs for Stakeholders
The California Department of Education Nutrition Services Division (NSD) would like to share the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) newly posted Frequently Asked Questions for Stakeholders (FAQ) related to Proposition 12, the Farm Animal Confinement Initiative. This proposition effects raw egg and pork products received in California through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foods program or a commercial vendor. Processors and Child Nutrition Program Operators are required to ensure that both raw and procured finished products are compliant with the provisions established by the State proposition.
The FAQ document and additional information on the Farm Animal Confinement Initiative can be found on the CDFA Proposition 12 Implementation web page.
The NSD will send a future notification once the CDFA announces their 45-day comment period at the commencement of their official rule-making process.
If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact Augie Aguilar, Food Administration Unit Manager, by phone at 916-445-4850 or by email at aaguilar@cde.ca.gov.