AN ACT relating to school nutrition programs.

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AN ACT relating to school nutrition programs. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 158 IS CREATED TO 3
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
(1) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires: 5
(a) "Department" means the Kentucky Department of Agriculture; 6
(b) "Eligible district" means a Kentucky school district that spends at least five 7
percent (5%) of total food procurement dollars on Kentucky -grown 8
agricultural products; 9
(c) "Eligible meal" means a meal served by an eligible school district approved 10
to participate in the Kentucky Farm to School Program that: 11
1. Includes an offering of at least one (1) Kentucky -grown agricultural 12
product; 13
2. Is served by a school that particip ates in federal school meal program; 14
and 15
3. Meets other criteria established by the department; 16
(d) "Kentucky-grown agricultural products" means all agricultural products, 17
as defined by KRS 260.016, that are grown, raised, or produced in the 18
Commonwealth, including agricultural products grown, raised, or produced 19
by Kentucky students; 20
(e) "Program" means the Kentucky Farm to School Program established in 21
this section; and 22
(f) "Program year" mean a school year during which the Kentucky Farm to 23
School Program is funded. 24
(2) (a) There is hereby established the Kentucky Farm to School Program to 25
improve student access to high -quality, Kentucky -grown agricultural 26
products. 27
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(b) There is hereby established within the State Treasury a trust and agency 1
account to be known as the Kentucky Farm to School Program fund. The 2
fund shall consist of moneys received from state appropriations, gifts, 3
grants, and federal funds. 4
(c) The fund shall be administered by the department. 5
(d) Amounts deposited in the fund shall be used for the purposes set forth in 6
this section and for no other purpose. 7
(e) Notwithstanding KRS 45.229, fund amounts not expended at the close of a 8
fiscal year shall not lapse but shall be carried forward into the next fiscal 9
year. 10
(3) The department shall accept applications for eligible districts to participate in the 11
program and seek partial reimbursement for eligible meals served by the district 12
during each program year. At a minimum, the application shall include: 13
(a) The total number of breakfasts serve d by the district to students during the 14
previous school year; 15
(b) The total number of lunches served by the district to students during the 16
previous school year; and 17
(c) The estimated number of eligible meals projected to be served during the 18
upcoming school year; 19
(d) A written program plan for the school district to: 20
1. Identify Kentucky -grown agricultural products available to school 21
nutrition programs that meet the applicable quality standards and 22
pricing requirements of the school district; 23
2. Offer Kentucky-grown agricultural products during school meals; and 24
3. Optimize food usage in the district's school nutrition programs in 25
order to reduce food waste in the district; and 26
(e) Any additional information required by the department. 27
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(4) No later than July 31 of each program year, the department shall: 1
(a) Review all applications submitted by school districts and approve all 2
applications that meet the eligibility requirements of this section and the 3
administrative regulations promulgated by the depart ment in accordance 4
with subsection (8) of this section; 5
(b) Calculate the partial reimbursement rate for each eligible meal approved by 6
the department based upon the total funds available in the program fund, 7
the total number of eligible districts approve d to participate in the program, 8
and the estimated number of eligible meals projected to be served during the 9
upcoming program year by eligible school districts; 10
(c) Notify each eligible district approved to participate in the program of the 11
partial reimbursement amount calculated in accordance with paragraph (b) 12
of this subsection; and 13
(d) Invite each eligible district approved to participate in the program to 14
confirm its participation. 15
(5) (a) No later than August 15 of each program year, each eligible district 16
approved to participate in the program shall confirm its participation in the 17
program with the department. Failure to confirm participation shall 18
constitute a withdrawal of the eligible d istrict's application to participate in 19
the program. 20
(b) In the event that one (1) or more eligible districts approved to participate in 21
the program withdraw their application, the department may recalculate the 22
partial reimbursement rate for each eligible meal and notify each eligible 23
school district participating in the program of the updated partial 24
reimbursement rate. 25
(6) No later than June 1 of each program year, each eligible district participating in 26
the program shall submit a year-end report to the department on the program that 27
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includes: 1
(a) An accounting of all eligible meals provided by the district; 2
(b) A report on the integration of Kentucky -grown agricultural products into 3
the districts school nutrition programs; and 4
(c) Any other information requested by the department. 5
(7) No later than June 30 of each program year, the department shall remit to each 6
eligible district participating in the program the calculated reimbursement rate 7
multiplied by the number of eligible meals provided by the distr ict during the 8
previous program year. Based upon the availability of funds, the department may 9
limit the number of eligible meals partially reimbursed to the estimated number 10
of eligible meals projected by the school district in its program application. 11
(8) The department shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with 12
KRS Chapter 13A necessary to carry out this section, including: 13
(a) An application form for the program; 14
(b) A sample program plan required by subsection (3)(d) of this section; 15
(c) Eligibility requirements for the approval of program applications in 16
accordance with subsection (4)(a) of this section; 17
(d) The formula for the department to calculate the program partial 18
reimbursement rate in accordance with subsection (4)(b) of this section; 19
(e) The minimal criteria to qualify a meal as including at least one (1) 20
Kentucky-grown agricultural product; 21
(f) A form for the year -end report of the district's program required by 22
subsection (5) of this section; 23
(g) Status reporting requirements during the program year; and 24
(h) A method of data collection to measure the economic impact of the 25
program. 26
Section 2. This Act may be cited as the Kentucky Farm to School Act. 27