Nutrition Services Division |
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To: Public School Districts County Offices of Education |
Number: 06-103 |
Attention: Food Service Director |
Date: January 2006 |
Subject: New Conditions for Summer School Meal Waivers and Saturday School Meal Waiver Criteria |
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| Reference: California Education Code sections 33050, 49548, and 49550 | |
Table of Contents
- Change in Law Establishes New Conditions and Submission Time Lines
- Waiver History
- School Meal Options
- Summer School Meal Waivers – New Conditions
- Condition One
- Condition Two
- Condition Three
- Saturday School Meal Waiver Criteria
- General Information
This Management Bulletin provides school districts and county superintendents of schools the forms and information necessary to request a waiver of the California Education Code (EC) Section 49550 for summer and/or Saturday school sessions.
Change in Law Establishes New Conditions and Submission Time Lines
Effective January 1, 2006, public schools must meet one out of three new conditions, established by Assembly Bill 1392 (Umberg), in order to receive approval to waive the requirement to provide a meal during summer school sessions as specified in EC Section 49550. The new conditions are detailed later in this Management Bulletin.
Additionally, summer meal waiver requests must now be received by the California Department of Education (CDE), Waiver Office, no later than 30 days prior to the last regular meeting of the State Board of Education (SBE) before the commencement of the summer school session for which the waiver is sought. This deadline will ensure timely processing of waiver requests for summer school sessions and, in the case of a denial, will permit the district/county sufficient time to plan for summer meal preparation. This year, the only SBE meeting dates before June 2006 are March 8–9, 2006, and May 10–11, 2006.
Waiver History
EC Section 49550 requires that public school districts and county offices of education maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12 shall “…provide for each needy pupil one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each school day… .” EC Section 49552 defines a needy child as one meeting federal eligibility criteria for free or reduced-price meals. This requirement extends to summer school and classes held on Saturdays. The meal can be breakfast or lunch, and it must meet the federal meal pattern requirements.
Schools providing meals during summer and/or Saturday school that are participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or School Breakfast Program (SBP) must make meals available to all students in attendance. These schools are eligible to receive reimbursement for qualifying meals under the NSLP or SBP. Schools that have a State Meal Program agreement receive reimbursement only for meals served to needy pupils.
School Meal Options
In order to meet the meal requirement of EC Section 49550, schools may serve breakfast or lunch to summer and/or Saturday school students. Districts that serve breakfast at summer or Saturday school site(s) are in compliance with EC Section 49550, and a waiver is not necessary. If the summer and/or Saturday school site(s) is not approved for the SBP, the district may submit a completed Site Change Request (DOC; 96KB; 2pp.) form to add the site(s) to the district’s SBP agreement. If the district does not participate in the SBP and wishes to apply, please contact the Nutrition Services Division, School Nutrition Programs Administration Unit, at (800) 952-5609 for an SBP application.
Districts may also use the Seamless Summer Feeding Option (SSFO) in order to meet the requirement of EC Section 49550 for summer schools. This federal option allows schools participating in the SSFO to serve meals free of charge to all summer school students as well as other children in the community. To qualify for this option, the school must be in a community where at least 50 percent of the children are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals and the summer meal service is open to community children. All meals served can be claimed as free meals and reimbursed at the free rate under the NSLP. For more information about this option, please contact Melissa Garza at 916-322-5885 or mgarza@cde.ca.gov.
Summer School Meal Waivers – New Conditions
School sites operating a summer school session may be granted a waiver if they meet one of the following new conditions:Condition One
- Elementary schools shall be granted a waiver if a Summer Food Service Program for Children (SFSP) site is available within one-half mile of the school site. Middle schools, junior high schools, and high schools shall be granted a waiver if a SFSP site is available within one mile of the school site. Additionally, one of the following conditions must exist:
- The hours of operation of the SFSP site commence no later than one-half hour after the completion of the summer school session day.
- The hours of operation of the SFSP site conclude no earlier than one hour after the completion of the summer school session day.
- For purposes of this section of law, “elementary school” means a public school that maintains kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 8 inclusive.
Condition Two
- Serving meals during the summer school session would result in a financial loss to the school district, documented in a financial analysis performed by the school district, in an amount equal to one-third of the net cash resources as defined in Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 210.2, which, for purposes of this section of law, shall exclude funds that are encumbered. If there are no net cash resources, the financial loss must be equal to the operating costs of one month as averaged over the summer school sessions.
PLEASE NOTE: The financial analysis must include a projection of future meal program participation based on either of the following:
- The meal service period beginning after the commencement of the summer school session day and concluding before the completion of the summer school session day. In other words, districts must project profit or loss based on serving a breakfast or a lunch during school hours and not before or after the school day.
- The school site operating as an open Summer Seamless Option or a SFSP site, and providing adequate notification thereof, including flyers and banners, in order to fulfill community needs under the SFSP.
Condition Three
- Summer school sites that operate two hours or less including breaks and recess shall be granted a waiver.
A school district must complete the Specific Waiver Request –Summer School Meal Waiver documents and return the information to the address on the form. Copies are available at:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/lr/wr/index.asp
Districts may be required to provide additional supporting documentation for each school site operating a summer school session depending on the condition under which each site will qualify. It is important to note that a school district operating multiple summer school sessions may be approved for one or more but not all summer school sites. In the event that a waiver request is denied for some sites, the school district will be required to provide meals to students participating in summer school at those sites.
In the event that a school district or county superintendent of schools has failed to comply with the provisions of this article, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction shall certify such noncompliance to the Attorney General (EC 49556). The Attorney General shall conduct such investigations as necessary to document the noncompliance.
Saturday School Meal Waiver Criteria
The SBE also grants Saturday school meal waivers if two of the following criteria exist:
(a) The Saturday school session is less than four hours in duration and is completed by noon, allowing pupils to go home during the lunch period.
(b) Less than 10 percent of the needy pupils attending the Saturday school session are at the school site for more than three hours per day.
(c) The Saturday school site does not have proper refrigeration facilities to enable meals to be prepared on Friday and served on Saturday.
(d) Serving meals during the Saturday school session would result in a financial loss to the school district, documented by the district, in an amount equal to one-third of the food service net cash resources.
Items a, b, and c above apply to individual school sites operating a Saturday school program. Item d applies to the school district. To request a waiver, a school district must complete the Saturday school documents and provide the required supporting documentation for each school site operating a Saturday school session. It is important to note that a school district operating multiple Saturday school sessions may be approved for one or more Saturday school sites but not receive a waiver for all Saturday school sites. In the event that the waiver request is denied for some sites, the school district will be required to provide meals to students participating in Saturday school at those sites.
Saturday school meal waiver requests must be submitted no later than two months prior to the starting date of the Saturday school session. Please complete and mail the General Waiver form available at:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/lr/wr/documents/saturdaymeal.doc (DOC; 74KB; 5pp.)
Included in this package is the SBE Calendar for Submission of Waivers for 2006. A Saturday school waiver that is granted for two consecutive years remains in effect permanently, provided the information contained in the original request has not changed. Examples of changes are sites starting new Saturday programs or sites removed from existing Saturday programs.
General Information
Districts requesting a summer school meal waiver must use the following 2006 meal waiver documents:
- Specific Waiver Request - Summer School Meal Waiver – District Information
- Specific Waiver Request - Summer School Meal Waiver – Site Information
PLEASE NOTE: These revised forms are available at:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/lr/wr/
Depending upon the condition or criteria under which each site is trying to qualify, the CDE will send additional documentation for the school district to complete before a recommendation will be made.
A letter will be sent from the CDE Waiver Office notifying the school district of the SBE scheduled hearing date. The letter will also give the CDE’s recommendation for each site’s waiver request. If the CDE recommends denial of the request, the district will have the right to either withdraw the waiver and provide the meals, or attend the SBE meeting to present a response to the CDE’s recommendation.
However, please note that the new conditions in Assembly Bill 1392 (Umberg) provide clear legislative intent to reduce the number of waivers being granted for this purpose.
A letter of the SBE’s final disposition of the waiver is mailed after the hearing.
To expedite processing, all waiver requests and forms must be mailed to:
CDE Waiver Office
Attn: Judy Pinegar, Education Administrator I
1430 N Street, Suite 5602
Sacramento, CA 95814
For information on the receipt or hearing date of your waiver request, please contact the CDE Waiver Office at 916-319-0824. If you have any questions about the summer and/or Saturday school meal waiver process, contact Rae Dalimonte at 916-445-6775, 800-952-5609, or rdalimon@cde.ca.gov.
