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SF 3831

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 03/27/2018 09:00am

KEY: stricken = removed, old language.
underscored = added, new language.

Current Version - as introduced

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A bill for an act
relating to education; prohibiting school lunch providers from shaming students;
requiring meals policies to be posted to school Web sites; creating a supplementary
reserve fund; amending Minnesota Statutes 2016, sections 119A.03, subdivision
2; 124D.111; 270A.03, subdivision 2.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 119A.03, subdivision 2, is amended to read:


Subd. 2.

Duties of commissioner.

The commissioner shall:

(1) identify measurable outcomes by which programs administered by the department
will be evaluated at the state and local level;

(2) develop linkages with other state departments to ensure coordination and consistent
state policies promoting healthy development of children and families;

(3) prepare, in consultation with the Children's Cabinet and affected parties, prior to July
1 of each year, guidelines governing planning, reporting, and other procedural requirements
necessary to administer this chapter;

(4) facilitate inclusive processes when designing or implementing guidelines and strategies
to achieve agency goals for children and families;

(5) facilitate intergovernmental and public-private partnership strategies necessary to
implement this chapter;

(6) submit to the federal government, or provide assistance to local governments and
organizations in submitting, where appropriate and feasible, requests for federal waivers or
recommendations for changes in federal law necessary to carry out the purposes of this
chapter;

(7) coordinate review of all plans and other documents required under the guidelines
provided for in clause (3);

(8) coordinate development of the management support system components required
for implementation of this chapter;

(9) new text begin coordinate and review local school meals policies according to section 124D.111;
new text end

new text begin (10) new text end review other programs serving children and families to determine the feasibility
for transfer to the Department of Education or the feasibility of inclusion in the funding
consolidation process; and

deleted text begin (10)deleted text end new text begin (11)new text end monitor local compliance with this chapter.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2018.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 124D.111, is amended to read:


124D.111 new text begin SCHOOL MEALS POLICIES; new text end LUNCH AID; FOOD SERVICE
ACCOUNTING.

Subdivision 1.

School deleted text begin lunch aid computationdeleted text end new text begin meals policiesnew text end .

new text begin (a) Each Minnesota
participant in the national school lunch program must adopt and post to its Web site, or the
Web site of the organization where the meal is served, a model school meals policy. For
school district and charter school participants, the school board must annually affirm the
model meals policy and inform parents of the school meals policy.
new text end

new text begin (b) The policy must be in writing and clearly communicate student meal charges when
payment cannot be collected at the point of service. The policy must be reasonable,
well-defined, and maintain the dignity of students by prohibiting lunch shaming or otherwise
ostracizing the student.
new text end

new text begin (c) The policy must address whether the participant uses a collections agency to collect
unpaid school meals debt.
new text end

new text begin (d) The policy must ensure that once a participant has placed a meal on a tray or otherwise
served the meal to a student, the meal may not be subsequently withdrawn from the student
by the cashier or other school official whether or not the student has an outstanding meals
balance.
new text end

new text begin (e) If a school contracts with a third party for its meal services, it must provide the vendor
with its school meals policy. Any contract between the school and a third-party provider
entered into or modified after the effective date of this act must ensure that the third-party
provider adheres to the participant's school meals policy.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 1a. new text end

new text begin Commissioner's duties. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of education must develop a
model school meals policy and post that policy on the department's Web site. The
commissioner must annually notify participants in the national school lunch program that
their policies must be approved and posted to their Web sites. The commissioner must also
publicize the statewide unpaid school lunch account established in subdivision 1b, and
encourage donations to that account and to local schools for unpaid meals.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 1b. new text end

new text begin School lunch aid amounts. new text end

new text begin (a) new text end Each school year, the state must pay participants
in the national school lunch program the amount of 12.5 cents for each full paid and free
student lunch and 52.5 cents for each reduced-price lunch served to students.

new text begin (b) For any meals served by a participant without a model policy adopted under
subdivision 1, the state shall pay the amounts otherwise earned under paragraph (a) for the
time period for which no policy has been adopted to the unpaid school lunch account
established in paragraph (c).
new text end

new text begin (c) An unpaid school lunch account is created in the special revenue fund. Payments
under paragraph (b) must be deposited in the unpaid school lunch account. Any school meal
donations received by the commissioner must also be deposited in this account. Each year,
the balance in the unpaid school lunch account is appropriated to the commissioner for
proportional distribution to charter schools and school districts with unpaid lunch balances.
new text end

Subd. 2.

Application.

A school district, charter school, nonpublic school, or other
participant in the national school lunch program shall apply to the department for this
payment on forms provided by the department.new text begin The participant annually must submit its
school meals policy to the department in the form and manner specified by the department.
new text end

Subd. 2a.

Federal child and adult care food program; criteria and notice.

The
commissioner must post on the department's Web site eligibility criteria and application
information for nonprofit organizations interested in applying to the commissioner for
approval as a multisite sponsoring organization under the federal child and adult care food
program. The posted criteria and information must inform interested nonprofit organizations
about:

(1) the criteria the commissioner uses to approve or disapprove an application, including
how an applicant demonstrates financial viability for the Minnesota program, among other
criteria;

(2) the commissioner's process and time line for notifying an applicant when its
application is approved or disapproved and, if the application is disapproved, the explanation
the commissioner provides to the applicant; and

(3) any appeal or other recourse available to a disapproved applicant.

Subd. 3.

School food service fund.

(a) The expenses described in this subdivision must
be recorded as provided in this subdivision.

(b) In each district, the expenses for a school food service program for pupils must be
attributed to a school food service fund. Under a food service program, the school food
service may prepare or serve milk, meals, or snacks in connection with school or community
service activities.

(c) Revenues and expenditures for food service activities must be recorded in the food
service fund. The costs of processing applications, accounting for meals, preparing and
serving food, providing kitchen custodial services, and other expenses involving the preparing
of meals or the kitchen section of the lunchroom may be charged to the food service fund
or to the general fund of the district. The costs of lunchroom supervision, lunchroom custodial
services, lunchroom utilities, and other administrative costs of the food service program
must be charged to the general fund.

That portion of superintendent and fiscal manager costs that can be documented as
attributable to the food service program may be charged to the food service fund provided
that the school district does not employ or contract with a food service director or other
individual who manages the food service program, or food service management company.
If the cost of the superintendent or fiscal manager is charged to the food service fund, the
charge must be at a wage rate not to exceed the statewide average for food service directors
as determined by the department.

(d) Capital expenditures for the purchase of food service equipment must be made from
the general fund and not the food service fund, unless the restricted balance in the food
service fund at the end of the last fiscal year is greater than the cost of the equipment to be
purchased.

(e) If the condition set out in paragraph (d) applies, the equipment may be purchased
from the food service fund.

(f) If a deficit in the food service fund exists at the end of a fiscal year, and the deficit
is not eliminated by revenues from food service operations in the next fiscal year, then the
deficit must be eliminated by a permanent fund transfer from the general fund at the end of
that second fiscal year. However, if a district contracts with a food service management
company during the period in which the deficit has accrued, the deficit must be eliminated
by a payment from the food service management company.

(g) Notwithstanding paragraph (f), a district may incur a deficit in the food service fund
for up to three years without making the permanent transfer if the district submits to the
commissioner by January 1 of the second fiscal year a plan for eliminating that deficit at
the end of the third fiscal year.

(h) If a surplus in the food service fund exists at the end of a fiscal year for three
successive years, a district may recode for that fiscal year the costs of lunchroom supervision,
lunchroom custodial services, lunchroom utilities, and other administrative costs of the food
service program charged to the general fund according to paragraph (c) and charge those
costs to the food service fund in a total amount not to exceed the amount of surplus in the
food service fund.

Subd. 4.

No fees.

A participant that receives school lunch aid under this section must
make lunch available without charge to all participating students who qualify for free or
reduced-price meals.

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Respectful treatment. new text end

The participant must also new text begin provide meals to participating
students in a respectful manner according to the policy adopted under subdivision 1 and
new text end ensure that any reminders for payment of outstanding student meal balances do not demean
or stigmatize any child participating in the school lunch programnew text begin and conform to the
participant's school meals policy
new text end .

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2018.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 270A.03, subdivision 2, is amended to read:


Subd. 2.

Claimant agency.

"Claimant agency" means any state agency, as defined by
section 14.02, subdivision 2, the regents of the University of Minnesota, any district court
of the state, any county, any statutory or home rule charter city, including a city that is
presenting a claim for a municipal hospital or a public library or a municipal ambulance
service, a hospital district, a private nonprofit hospital that leases its building from the county
or city in which it is located, any ambulance service licensed under chapter 144E, any public
agency responsible for child support enforcement, any public agency responsible for the
collection of court-ordered restitution, new text begin any school district, new text end and any public agency established
by general or special law that is responsible for the administration of a low-income housing
program.