1999 Minnesota Statutes

     124D.111 Lunch aid; food service accounting. 

    Subdivision 1.    School lunch aid computation.  Each 
 school year, the state must pay districts participating in the 
 national school lunch program the amount of 6.5 cents for each 
 full paid, reduced, and free student lunch served to students in 
 the district.  

    Subd. 2.    Application.  School districts shall apply 
 to the department for this payment on forms provided by the 
 department. 

    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 two conditions apply: 

    (1) the unreserved 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; and 

    (2) the department has approved the purchase of the 
 equipment. 

    (e) If the two conditions set out in paragraph (d) apply, 
 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. 

    HIST: 1977 c 447 art 6 s 6; 1979 c 334 art 6 s 22; 1981 c 358 
 art 6 s 26; 1983 c 314 art 6 s 17; 1Sp1985 c 12 art 6 s 11; 1987 
 c 398 art 6 s 11; 1989 c 209 art 1 s 12; 1991 c 265 art 8 s 5; 
 1992 c 499 art 8 s 6; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 16 s 13; 1998 c 397 art 7 
 s 75,164; art 11 s 3; 1998 c 398 art 6 s 25