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A4942
ASSEMBLY, No. 4942
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MAY 7, 2026
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman� JERRY WALKER
District 31 (Hudson)
Assemblyman� VINCENT M. "VINNIE" KEARNEY
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
Assemblyman� BALVIR SINGH
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
���� Expands school breakfast program to all schools with
five percent or more of students eligible for free or reduced price meals.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning the implementation of school
breakfast programs and supplementing chapter 33 of Title 18A of the New Jersey
Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� a.� (1)
Notwithstanding the
provisions of section 2 of P.L.2003, c.4 (C.18A:33-10) to the contrary,
following the enactment of this act, a
public
school operated by a local or regional school district of the State in which
five percent or more of the students enrolled in the school on or before the
last school day before October 16 of the preceding school year were eligible
for free or reduced price meals under the federal School Lunch Program or the
federal School Breakfast Program, shall establish a school breakfast program in
the school.
���� (2)�� The school district shall submit a plan
for the establishment of school breakfast programs for each school in the
district for the initial year, subject to the requirements of this section,
that is in compliance with and pursuant to the School Breakfast Program
administered by the State Department of Agriculture.� The plan for each school
shall be submitted to the Department of Agriculture by the date required by
subsection b. of this section, in a form and manner prescribed by the Secretary
of Agriculture.
���� b.��� (1)� A school district shall submit a
plan for all grades of each school that has one or more of the grades pre-K
through sixth grade and for which a plan is required by subsection a. of this
section on or before November 1, 2022.
���� (2)�� A school district shall submit a plan for
all grades of each school that is not described in paragraph (1) of this
subsection and for which a plan is required by subsection a. of this section on
or before November 1, 2023.
���� c.���� The Department of Agriculture, in
consultation with the Department of Education, shall review each school
breakfast plan submitted pursuant to this section and make recommendations, if
necessary, on how the school breakfast program can operate within the limits of
the federal and State reimbursement rates for the federal School Breakfast
Program.
���� d.��� The Department of Agriculture shall
notify each school district that submits a school breakfast plan pursuant to
this section of the completion of the department's review and any recommended
changes to the plan, within three months after receipt of the plan, but no
later than the February 1 following the date required for submission of the
plan pursuant to subsection b. of this section.
���� e.���� A school district subject to the
requirements of this section shall establish a school breakfast program in each
of its schools, based on the plan submitted by the school district to the
Department of Agriculture, by September 1, 2023 for schools for which plans are
required to be submitted by paragraph (1) of subsection b. of this section, and
by September 1, 2024 for schools for which plans are required to be submitted
by paragraph (2) of subsection b. of this section.
���� f.���� (1)� If a school district does not
submit a school breakfast plan to the Department of Agriculture pursuant to
subsection a. of this section by the date required by subsection b. of this
section, it shall establish a school breakfast program, in each of its schools
in which a program is required pursuant to subsection a. of this section, based
on a model plan provided by the department.
���� (2)�� The model plan shall include
recommendations on how the school breakfast program can operate within the
limits of the federal and State reimbursement rates for the federal School
Breakfast Program.
���� (3)�� The Department of Agriculture shall
provide the model plan to the school district by March 1, 2023 for schools for
which plans are required to be submitted by paragraph (1) of subsection b. of
this section, and by March 1, 2024 for schools for which plans are required to
be submitted by paragraph (2) of subsection b. of this section, and the school
district shall establish the school breakfast program in each of its schools,
based on the model plan, by September 1, 2023 for schools for which plans are required
to be submitted by paragraph (1) of subsection b. of this section, and by
September 1, 2024 for schools for which plans are required to be submitted by
paragraph (2) of subsection b. of this section.
���� 2.��� The implementation of a school breakfast
program under this act shall be subject to the requirements of section 3 of
P.L.2003, c.4 (C.18A:33-11).
���� 3.��� a.� The Department of Agriculture may
grant a one-year waiver of the requirements of this act to a school in a school
district subject to the requirements of this act that lacks the staff,
facilities, or equipment to offer a school breakfast program, or that lacks the
means to finance the hiring or acquisition of such staff, facilities or
equipment, if the district submits a school breakfast plan to the department
pursuant to the requirements of section 1 of this act and requests a waiver for
the specific school.
���� b.��� A school district that requests a waiver
pursuant to this section shall provide such information as the Department of
Agriculture shall specify pursuant to regulation to justify the request.� The
information shall include, but not be limited to, a description of the specific
impediments to implementing the program, the specific actions that will be
taken to remove those impediments, and the specific steps required to
successfully implement the program in the following school year.
���� 4.��� The Department of Agriculture, in
consultation with the Department of Education, shall adopt rules and
regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act,"
P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), which are necessary to effectuate the
purposes of this act.
���� 5.��� The State shall appropriate to the
Department of Agriculture, in each fiscal year, the funds necessary to provide
the State share for school breakfast programs established under the provisions
of this act.
���� 6.��� This
act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill requires a public school operated by
a local or regional school district of the State in which five percent or more
of the students enrolled in the school on or before the last school day before
October 16 of the preceding school year were eligible for free or reduced price
meals under the federal School Lunch Program or the federal School Breakfast
Program to establish a school breakfast program in the school.� Under existing
State statutes, a school with five percent or more of such eligible students
must have a school lunch program; however a school is only required to have a
school breakfast program if it has 20 percent or more of such eligible
students.
���� The new requirements established by the bill
are modeled on the State�s existing breakfast program planning and
implementation requirements.� Specifically, the bill would provide for a school
breakfast program to be implemented, by September 1, 2023, in covered schools
that provide instruction in Kindergarten through sixth grades, and by September
1, 2024, in covered schools that provide instruction in other grades.� An
initial program plan for each school is to be submitted to the Department of
Agriculture for approval.� If a school district fails to submit a plan by the
date specified in the bill, the school district will be required to establish a
school breakfast program, in each covered school, based on a model plan
provided by the department.� The bill would authorize a school district to seek
and obtain, from the Department of Agriculture, a one-year waiver of the bill�s
requirements in certain cases.
���� The bill would additionally provide for the
State to annually appropriate necessary funds, to the Department of
Agriculture, to finance the State�s share of costs for the school breakfast
programs being established under the bill.