Expand Education and Housing Aid

Section 1. This act enacts into law major components of legislation which are necessary to implement the state fiscal plan for the 2018-2019 state fiscal year. Each component is wholly contained within a Part identified as Parts A through DD. The effective date for each particular provision contained within such Part is set forth in the last section of such Part. Any provision in any section contained within a Part, including the effective date of the Part, which makes a reference to a section "of this act", when used in connection with that particular component, shall be deemed to mean and refer to the corresponding section of the Part in which it is found. Section three of this act sets forth the general effective date of this act.

PART A

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Intentionally Omitted

PART B

Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 908 to read as follows:

§ 908. Prohibition against meal shaming. All public school districts, charter schools and non-public schools in the state that participate in the national school lunch program or school breakfast program in which there is a school at which all pupils are not eligible to be served breakfast and lunch under the community eligibility provision or provision two of the federal national school lunch act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1751 et seq., shall develop a plan to ensure that a pupil whose parent or guardian has unpaid school meal fees is not shamed or treated differently than a pupil whose parent or guardian does not have unpaid school meal fees. The plan shall be submitted to the commissioner by July first, two thousand eighteen, or sixty days from the effective date of this section after enactment in conformance with regulations of the commissioner. After submission of such plan, the school or school district shall adopt and post the plan on its website. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, the following elements:

a. A statement that the school or school district shall provide the student with the student's meal of choice for that school day of the available reimbursable meal choices for such school day, if the student requests one, unless the student's parent or guardian has specifically provided written permission to the school to withhold a meal, provided that the school or school district shall only be required to provide access to reimbursable meals, not a la carte items, adult meals, or other similar items;

b. An explanation of how staff will be trained to ensure that the school or school district's procedures are carried out correctly and how the affected parents and guardians will be provided with assistance in establishing eligibility for free or reduced-price meals for their children;

c. Procedures requiring the school or school district to notify the student's parent or guardian that the student's meal card or account balance is exhausted and unpaid meal charges are due. The notification procedures may include a repayment schedule, but the school or school district may not charge any interest or fees in connection with any meals charged;

d. A communication procedure designed to support eligible families enrolling in the national free and reduced price meal program. Such communication procedures shall also include a process for determining eligibility when a student owes money for five or more meals, wherein the school or school district shall:

i. make every attempt to determine if a student is directly certified to be eligible for free meals;

ii. make at least two attempts, not including the application or instructions included in a school enrollment packet, to reach the student's parent or guardian and have the parent or guardian fill out a meal application; and

iii. require a school or school district to contact the parent or guardian to offer assistance with a meal application, determine if there are other issues within the household that have caused the child to have insufficient funds to purchase a school meal and offer any other assistance that is appropriate;

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e. A clear explanation of procedures designed to decrease student distress or embarrassment, provided that, no school or school district shall:

i. publicly identify or stigmatize a student who cannot pay for a meal or who owes a meal debt by any means including, but not limited to, requiring that a student wear a wristband or hand stamp;

ii. require a student who cannot pay for a meal or who owes a meal debt to do chores or other work to pay for meals;

iii. require that a student throw away a meal after it has been served because of the student's inability to pay for the meal or because money is owed for earlier meals;

iv. take any action directed at a pupil to collect unpaid school meal fees. A school or school district may attempt to collect unpaid school meal fees from a parent or guardian, but shall not use a debt collector, as defined in section eight hundred three of the federal consumer credit protection act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1692a; or

v. discuss any outstanding meal debt in the presence of other students;

f. A clear explanation of the procedure to handle unpaid meal charges, provided that nothing in this section is intended to allow for the unlimited accrual of debt;

g. Procedures to enroll in the free and reduced price lunch program, provided that such procedures shall include that, at the beginning of each school year, a school or school district shall provide a free, printed meal application in every school enrollment packet, or if the school or school district chooses to use an electronic meal application, provide in school enrollment packets an explanation of the electronic meal application process and instructions for how parents or guardians may request a paper application at no cost;

h. If a school or school district becomes aware that a student who has not submitted a meal application is eligible for free or reduced-fee meals, the school or school district shall complete and file an application for the student pursuant to title seven, section 245.6(d) of the code of federal regulations; and

i. School liaisons required for homeless, foster, and migrant students shall coordinate with the nutrition department to make sure such students receive free school meals, in accordance with federal law.

§ 2. Section 4 of chapter 537 of the laws of 1976, relating to paid, free and reduced price breakfast for eligible pupils in certain school districts is renumbered section 6 and two new sections 4 and 5 are added to read as follows:

§ 4. a. All public elementary or secondary schools in this state, not including a charter school authorized by article 56 of the education law, with at least seventy percent or more of its students eligible for free or reduced-price meals under the federal National School Lunch Program as determined by the State Education Department based upon data submitted by schools through the basic educational data system (BEDS) for the prior school year, shall be required to offer all students a school breakfast after the instructional day has begun.

b. Each public school may determine the breakfast service delivery model that best suits its students. Service delivery models may include, but are not limited to, breakfast in the classroom, grab and go breakfast, and breakfast served in the cafeteria. Time spent by students consuming breakfast may be considered instructional time when students consume breakfast in the students' classrooms and instruction is being provided while students are consuming breakfast. In determining a

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service delivery model, schools shall consult with teachers, parents, students and members of the community.

c. Schools subject to this requirement shall provide notice to students' parents and guardians that the school will be offering breakfast to all students after the instructional day has begun.

d. Any school identified pursuant to this section may apply to the commissioner of education for a waiver from establishing a school breakfast program after the instructional day has begun. Such waiver may be granted by the commissioner of education upon the school demonstrating:

i. A lack of need for a school breakfast program after the instructional day has begun because of a successful existing breakfast program; or

ii. Providing a school breakfast program after the instructional day has begun would cause economic hardship for the school.

The commissioner of education shall annually review the basis for waivers granted to schools.

e. The State Education Department shall:

i. on or before May 1, 2018, and on or before May 1 of each year thereafter preceding each school year, publish on its website a list of the public schools that meet the requirements for operating such programs, and provide notification to such schools;

ii. develop and distribute guidelines for the implementation of such programs, which shall be in the compliance with all applicable federal and state laws governing the School Breakfast Program;

iii. provide technical assistance relating to the implementation of such program and submission of claims for reimbursement under the School Breakfast Program; and

iv. annually publish by December 2019, and each December thereafter, on its website information relating to each school subject to this requirement, as well as any other schools operating such program which are not subject to this requirement, in the prior school year. Such information shall include, but not be limited to: the school name, service delivery models implemented, student enrollment, the free and reduced-price lunch percentage, and the average daily breakfast participation rate.

§ 5. a. Notwithstanding any monetary limitations with respect to school lunch programs contained in any law or regulation, for school lunch meals served in the school year commencing July 1, 2019 and each July 1 thereafter, a school food authority shall be eligible for a lunch meal State subsidy of twenty-five cents, which shall include any annual State subsidy received by such school food authority under any other provision of State law, for any school lunch meal served by such school food authority; provided that the school food authority certifies to the State Education Department through the application submitted pursuant to subdivision b of this section that such food authority has purchased at least thirty percent of its total cost of food products for its school lunch service program from New York state farmers, growers, producers or processors in the preceding school year.

b. The State Education Department, in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture and Markets, shall develop an application for school food authorities to seek an additional State subsidy pursuant to this section in a timeline and format prescribed by the commissioner of education. Such application shall include, but not be limited to, documentation demonstrating the school food authority's total food purchases for its school lunch service program, and documentation demonstrating its total food purchases and percentages for such program from New York State

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farmers, growers, producers or processors in the preceding school year. The application shall also include an attestation from the school food authority's chief operating officer that it purchased at least thirty percent of its total cost of food products for its school lunch service program from New York State farmers, growers, producers or processors in the preceding school year in order to meet the requirements for this additional State subsidy. School food authorities shall be required to annually apply for this subsidy.

c. The State Education Department shall annually publish information on its website commencing on September 1, 2019 and each September 1 thereafter, relating to each school food authority that applied for and received this additional State subsidy, including but not limited to: the school food authority name, student enrollment, average daily lunch participation, total food costs for its school lunch service program, total cost of food products for its school lunch service program purchased from New York State farmers, growers, producers or processors, and the percent of total food costs that were purchased from New York State farmers, growers, producers or processors for its school lunch service program.

§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that subdivision a of section 4 of chapter 537 of the laws of 1976, as added by section two of this act, shall take effect September 1, 2018.

PART C

Intentionally Omitted

PART D

Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 1950 of the education law is amended by adding a new paragraph oo to read as follows: