School Meal Enhancement Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to implement a school-wide paperless free school meal program which allows local educational agencies (LEAs) to select certain schools to provide free meals to all their students without the use of paper applications to determine their eligibility for free or reduced price breakfasts or lunches under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 or the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.
Prohibits the participation of schools that do not have a student enrollment of which at least: (1) 65% are estimated to be eligible for free meals under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966; or (2) 75% are estimated to be eligible for free or reduced price meals under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.
Requires the Secretary to issue guidance that establishes an alternate, paperless method of determining such estimated eligibility rates.
Reimburses the school food service authority of each participating LEA pursuant to a formula that factors in such estimated eligibility rates.
[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2690 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2690
To create a universal, paperless school meal program that is nationally
available.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 3, 2009
Mr. Sestak (for himself and Mr. Braley of Iowa) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To create a universal, paperless school meal program that is nationally
available.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``School Meal Enhancement Act of
2009''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Eligible school.--The term ``eligible school'' means
any school that is--
(A) eligible to participate in the National School
Lunch Program established under the Richard B. Russell
National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751) and the
National School Breakfast Program established under the
Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.);
(B) meets the participation threshold described in
section 3(a); and
(C) agrees to provide free meals to all enrolled
students through the school-wide paperless free school
meal program.
(2) Estimated eligibility rate.--The term ``estimated
eligibility rate'' means the percentage of a school's enrolled
students eligible for free or reduced price meals under the
Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) and the
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et
seq.) determined--
(A) in accordance with the guidance issued by the
Secretary under section 3(a)(2)(B)(ii); or
(B) through a method for determining the number of
students eligible for free or reduced price meals
approved within the last 4 years under section 18(c) of
the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42
U.S.C. 1769(c)).
(3) School-wide paperless free school meal program.--The
term ``school-wide paperless free school meal program'' means a
program to provide, to all enrolled students in a participating
school, without requiring the use of paper applications to
determine eligibility for--
(A) free or reduced price school breakfasts under
the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et
seq.); and
(B) free or reduced price school lunches under the
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.
1751 et seq.).
(4) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational
agency'' has the meaning given such term under section 12 of
the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.
1760).
(5) Participating school.--The term ``participating
school'' means an eligible school that has been selected to
participate in the school-wide paperless free school meal
program by its local educational agency in accordance with the
guidance issued under section 3(a).
(6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
SEC. 3. THE SCHOOL-WIDE PAPERLESS FREE SCHOOL MEAL PROGRAM.
(a) Duties of the Secretary.--
(1) Program implementation.--Not later than the July 1
following date of publication of the final guidance issued
under this subsection, the Secretary shall implement the
school-wide paperless free school meal program in accordance
with the requirements of this Act.
(2) Guidance.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall publish in the
Federal Register and post on the website of the
Department of Agriculture--
(i) not later than 6 months after the date
of enactment of this Act, for comment draft
guidance for local educational agencies and
participating schools on the requirements for
carrying out the school-wide paperless free
price school meal program; and
(ii) not later than 9 months after the date
of the enactment of this Act, final guidance
for carrying out such program.
(B) Requirements of the guidance.--
(i) Participation threshold.--The Secretary
shall issue guidance that describes how a local
educational agency shall demonstrate to the
Secretary that an eligible school meets the
participation threshold of--
(I) at least 65 percent estimated
eligibility rate for free meals under
the Richard B. Russell National School
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) and
the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42
U.S.C. 1771 et seq.); or
(II) at least 75 percent estimated
eligibility rate for free and reduced
price meals under the Richard B.
Russell National School Lunch Act (42
U.S.C. 1751 et seq.).
(ii) Guidance on estimated eligibility
rate.--The Secretary shall issue guidance that
establishes an alternate, paperless method of
determining an estimated eligibility rate. In
issuing such guidance, the Secretary shall
balance cost-effectiveness with obtaining an
accurate estimated eligibility rate and take
into account--
(I) the number of students who are
certified as eligible for free meals
under section 9(b)(4) of the Richard B.
Russell School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.
1758(b)(4)) at each eligible school;
(II) the number of students
determined to be eligible for free or
reduced price meals at each eligible
school within the last 3 years on the
basis of completed household
applications (as defined in section
9(b)(3)(A) of the Richard B. Russell
School Lunch Act 1758(b)(3)(A));
(III) the most recent income and
poverty data available from reliable
data sources, including--
(aa) income and poverty
statistics provided by the
Small Area Income and Poverty
Estimates program of the Bureau
of the Census of the Department
of Commerce;
(bb) data provided by the
American Community Survey of
the Bureau of the Census of the
Department of Commerce;
(cc) determinations under
section 1124(c)(2) of the
Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (20 U.S.C.
6333(c)(2));
(dd) data from other
Federal, State, or local means-
tested programs, such as the
supplemental nutrition
assistance program established
under the Food and Nutrition
Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et
seq.) or the State Medicaid
program under title XIX of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1396 et seq.); and
(ee) other data sources the
Secretary deems to be reliable;
and
(IV) any local educational agency-
wide data that the Secretary determines
can be used to make statistically sound
assumptions regarding the estimated
eligibility rates for schools under its
jurisdiction.
(iii) Survey.--The guidance issued under
clause (ii) may also provide for phone and door
to door sampling to be required when
determining the estimated eligibility rate in
order to increase the accuracy rate of the
estimate. Any phone and door to door sampling
requirement shall not be more than what is
required for the estimated eligibility rate to
reach a 95 percent statistical confidence
interval about the estimate of no more than
plus or minus 2 percentage points. This
limitation shall not restrict local education
agencies from choosing to conduct higher
percentages of phone and door to door sampling.
(iv) Evaluation of the eligibility rate.--
The Secretary shall issue guidance--
(I) requiring each local
educational agency participating in the
program to evaluate the estimated
eligibility rate at least every 4 years
in each participating school; and
(II) on how to conduct such
evaluation.
(b) Reimbursement.--The reimbursement to each school food service
authority of each local education agency that participates in the
program under this Act shall be for each month of participation, in an
amount equal to the sum of the product obtained by--
(1) multiplying the total number lunches of served in the
school lunches by--
(A) the estimated eligibility rate of enrolled
students in the school eligible for free meals; and
(B) the special assistance factor for free lunches
prescribed by the Secretary under section 11(a)(3)(A)
of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42
U.S.C. 1759a(a)(3)(A));
(2) multiplying the total number of breakfasts served in
the school by--
(A) the estimated eligibility rate of enrolled
students in the school eligible for free meals; and
(B) the national average payment rate for free
breakfasts established under section 4(b) of the Child
Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773(b));
(3) multiplying the total number of lunches served in the
school by--
(A) by the estimated eligibility rate of enrolled
students in the school eligible for reduced price
meals; and
(B) by the special assistance factor for reduced
price lunches established under section 11(a) of the
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.
1759a(b));
(4) multiplying the total number of breakfasts served in
the school by--
(A) the estimated eligibility rate of enrolled
students in the school eligible for reduced price
meals; and
(B) the national average payment rate for reduced
price breakfasts established under section 4(b) of the
Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773(b));
(5) multiplying the number of students not eligible for
free or reduced price lunches in the school by the national
average payment rate for lunches established under section 4 of
the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.
1753);
(6) multiplying the number of students not eligible for
free or reduced price breakfasts in the school by the national
average payment rate for each breakfast served to a child not
eligible for free or reduced price meals established under
section 4(b) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C.
1773(b)); and
(7) multiplying the total number of lunches served in the
school by the commodity assistance rate established under
section 6(c) of the Richard B. Russell School Lunch Act (42
U.S.C. 1755(c)).
(c) Number of Students Not Eligible for Free or Reduced Price
Lunches.--The number of students not eligible for free or reduced price
lunches is equal to the difference obtained by subtracting the number
of free and reduced price lunches served in the school (based on the
estimated eligibility rate of enrolled student eligible for free and
reduce priced meals in the school) from the total number of lunches
served in the school.
(d) Number of Students Not Eligible for Free or Reduced Price
Breakfasts.--The number of students not eligible for free or reduced
price breakfasts is equal to the difference obtained by subtracting the
number of free and reduced price breakfasts served in the school (based
on the estimated eligibility rate of enrolled student eligible for free
and reduce priced meals in the school) from the total number of
breakfasts served in the school.
SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
Not later than 2 years after implementing the program under this
Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress that shall
include--
(1) the increase in the number of students who are eligible
to receive free or reduced meals under the Child Nutrition Act
of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) and Richard B. Russell
National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) receiving
such meals as a result of the program; and
(2) recommendations for legislation to increase the number
of children eligible to participate in the program, while
reducing waste and cost for schools and local educational
agencies, including recommendations for increasing direct
certification.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums
as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
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