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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 60th Legislature (2026)
SENATE BILL 1373 By: Reinhardt
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to schools; creating the Healthy
Meals for Healthy Kids Act; providing short title;
defining terms; requiring certain schools and
allowing certain schools to establish certain program
to offer meals at no charge; requiring school food
authorities that establish certain program to offer
certain meals at no cost to certain students and
provide certain amount of seated lunch time;
directing the State Department of Education to award
funding to school food authorities that establish
certain program; providing for calculation of funding
amount; providing for use of funding; requiring the
Department to inform certain school food authorities
of certain funding amount by certain date; directing
school food authorities to maximize access to certain
federal funds; requiring participation in certain
eligibility provision; requiring school food
authorities that do not participate in certain
provision to collect certain applications; directing
school food authorities to directly certify students
for certain status; directing the Department, in
certain collaboration, to electronically submit
certain report by certain date every three years;
providing for promulgation of rules; directing the
Department to establish certain grant program;
providing for calculation of grant amount, subject to
available funding; providing for use of grant funds;
providing for establishment of grant application
process; providing for codification; providing an
effective date; and declaring an emergency.
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 5-147.3 of Title 70, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Healthy
Meals for Healthy Kids Act”.
B. As used in this act:
1. “Community eligibility provision” means the federal
provision created pursuant to 42 U.S.C., Section 1759a that allows
public school districts to choose to receive federal special
assistance payments for school meals in exchange for providing free
school meals to all students enrolled in all or selected school
sites within the district;
2. “Direct certification” means the process by which eligible
students are certified for free meals without the need for a
household application based on household participation in one or
more means-tested federal assistance programs;
3. “Eligible meals” means meals served to full-price-paying
students that qualify for reimbursement pursuant to the National
School Lunch Act;
4. “Federal free meal reimbursement” means the free meal
reimbursement paid by the United States Department of Agriculture
for meals that qualify for reimbursement pursuant to the National
School Lunch Act;
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5. “Federal paid meal reimbursement rate” means the paid
reimbursement rate set annually by the United States Department of
Agriculture for meals that qualify for reimbursement pursuant to the
National School Lunch Act;
6. “Identified student percentage” means the percentage of a
school food authority’s student enrollment that is certified as
eligible for free meals based on a documentation of benefit of
receipt or categorical eligibility as provided for in 7 C.F.R.,
Section 245.6;
7. “Meal application” means an application for free- or
reduced-price meals pursuant to the National School Lunch Act;
8. “Paid meal rate” means the paid student rate reported by the
State Department of Education to the United States Department of
Agriculture based on the average paid meal rate charged by school
food authorities in the prior school year;
9. “School food authority” means school districts, public
charter schools, schools operated under the authority of the Bureau
of Indian Affairs, schools operated under the authority of federally
recognized Indian tribes, and private schools operating under the
National School Lunch Act;
10. “Unprocessed and minimally processed products” means raw or
frozen products; products that retain their inherent character
including, but not limited to, shredded carrots or ground beef; and
dried products including, but not limited to, beans. Unprocessed
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and minimally processed products do not include products that are
heated, cooked, or canned; and
11. “Value-added processed products” means products that are
altered from their unprocessed or minimally processed state through
preservation techniques including cooking, baking, or canning.
C. 1. Public school districts and public charter schools in
this state shall, and schools operated under the authority of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, schools operated under the authority of
federally recognized Indian tribes, and private schools may,
establish a program to offer high-quality meals at no charge to all
students attending schools operating under the National School Lunch
Act.
2. All school food authorities that establish such a program
shall:
a. offer one breakfast and one lunch at no cost to
students during each school day to any student who
requests a meal without consideration of the student’s
eligibility for a free- or reduced-price meal, with a
maximum of one free meal for each meal service period,
and
b. provide students in grades kindergarten through five
with at least twenty (20) minutes of seated lunch time
each school day to provide lunch periods that are long
enough to give all students time to eat. To the
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extent possible, participating school food authorities
shall provide recess prior to seated lunch time.
D. The State Department of Education shall award funding to
each school food authority that establishes a program pursuant to
the provisions of subsection G of this section as follows:
1. For school food authorities that meet the meal quality
improvement requirements established pursuant to subsection G of
this section, the Department shall distribute to each such school
food authority an amount that is equal to the federal free meal
reimbursement rate multiplied by the total number of eligible meals
served during the applicable school year, minus an amount equal to
the federal paid meal reimbursement for eligible meals served during
the applicable school year; or
2. For school food authorities that do not meet the meal
quality improvement requirements established pursuant to subsection
G of this section, the Department shall distribute to each such
school food authority an amount that is equal to the paid meal rate
multiplied by the total number of eligible meals served during the
applicable school year.
E. School food authorities shall use the funds received
pursuant to subsection D of this section to purchase commodities
necessary to improve meal quality including food and other
consumables, equipment, staffing, training, and technical
assistance.
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F. By August 1 of each year, the State Department of Education
shall inform eligible school food authorities of the amount of
program funding they will receive during the upcoming school year.
When calculating the amount of program funding that is due to a
school food authority, the Department shall assume that student
participation will remain at the same level as the previous school
year.
G. School food authorities shall maximize access to federal
funds for the cost of breakfast and lunch programs by adopting the
United States Department of Agriculture’s community eligibility
provision or any other federal provision that, in the opinion of the
United States Department of Agriculture, results in the maximum
possible federal funding for meals served in that program. Each
school food authority that has a school site with an identified
student percentage of at least forty percent (40%), or the
identified student percentage authorized by federal law, as
determined annually by the deadline set by the United States
Department of Agriculture, shall participate in the federal
community eligibility provision in the subsequent school year and
throughout the duration of the community eligibility provision’s
four-year cycle. School food authorities, to the extent
practicable, shall group public schools for purposes of maximizing
the number of schools eligible to participate in the community
eligibility provision.
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H. If a school food authority does not participate in the
community eligibility provision or any other federal provision that,
in the opinion of the State Department of Education, results in the
maximum possible federal funding for meals served in that program,
school meal applications shall be collected and direct certification
shall be used to identify students receiving free- or reduced-price
meals and paid meals based on guidance provided by the United States
Department of Agriculture.
I. A school food authority shall take steps to maximize federal
revenues and minimize debt on the families of students enrolled in
schools served by the authority by, at least monthly, taking steps
to directly certify students for free school meal status.
J. By July 1, 2027, and by July 1 every three (3) years
thereafter, the State Department of Education, in collaboration with
the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry and an
institution of higher education within The Oklahoma State System of
Higher Education, shall evaluate the impact of the provisions of
this section and shall electronically submit a report of findings
and recommendations to the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of
the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
K. The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules to
implement the provisions of this section including rules providing
for:
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1. Meal quality improvement requirements including purchasing
Oklahoma-produced food, freshly preparing scratch-cooked foods, and
engaging student and family voices and choices in menu development;
and
2. Procedures for annual certification.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 5-147.4 of Title 70, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. The State Department of Education shall establish a grant
program to encourage school food authorities to purchase Oklahoma-
grown, -raised, and -processed products. By August 1 of each year,
subject to the availability of funding, the Department shall
distribute to each participating school food authority the greater
of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or an amount equal to ten cents
($0.10) multiplied by the number of meals that qualified for federal
reimbursement that the participating school food authority served to
students in the preceding school year. When calculating the amount
of program funding that is due to a school food authority, the
Department shall assume that student participation will remain at
the same level as the previous year.
B. A school food authority that receives a grant pursuant to
subsection A of this section shall use the funds to purchase
Oklahoma-grown, -raised, or -processed products whenever possible.
Seventy-five percent (75%) of the funds shall be used for the
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purchase of minimally processed products, and the remaining twenty-
five percent (25%) of the funds may be used to purchase value-added
processed products.
C. The State Department of Education shall establish an
incentive grant application process. Grants shall be awarded on a
first-come, first-served basis. Grants shall be provided without
any limitation other than the amount of funds available and the
number of eligible school food authorities that apply.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective July 1, 2026.
SECTION 4. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health, or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
60-2-3306 EB 12/30/2025 4:29:37 PM