Education Code § 49507

49507.

(a) In addition to the funds allocated pursuant to Item 6100-488 of Section 2.0 of the Budget Act of 2026, the sum of four hundred million dollars ($400,000,000) is hereby appropriated, for the 2026–27 fiscal year, from the General Fund to the department for grants to local educational agencies to support kitchen equipment, infrastructure, training, and the continued implementation of universal school meals. Funds allocated to eligible local educational agencies shall be encumbered on or before June 30, 2030, and shall be used for any of the following:

(1) Kitchen infrastructure upgrades that will increase capacity for freshly prepared onsite meals using minimally processed, locally grown, and sustainable food, increase a school’s capacity to prepare meals that surpass the current nutritional quality of food served through a federal school meal program, or reduce waste, including any of the following:

(A) (i)Cooking equipment, including, but not limited to, electrical support and facility upgrade requirements, combination ovens, dishwashers, steamers, and tilting skillets.

(ii) When acquiring new cooking equipment pursuant to this paragraph, local educational agencies receiving funds are encouraged, to the extent practicable, to acquire energy-saving electric and induction equipment rather than equipment that uses fossil fuels.

(B) Service equipment, including, but not limited to, service lines, point-of-sale systems, and mobile carts.

(C) Refrigeration and storage, including, but not limited to, walk-in refrigerators, freezers, blast chillers, and system upgrades.

(D) Transportation of ingredients, meals, and equipment between sites, including, but not limited to, vehicles and equipment to prevent spoilage of food in transit.

(E) The support of infrastructure system needs for items described in subparagraphs (A) to (D) , inclusive.

(F) Nutrition planning equipment, including, but not limited to, equipment needed to determine nutritional content of menus and remove ultraprocessed foods of concern and restricted school foods from school meals.

(G) Resources to implement innovative strategies that increase access and participation of the universal school meals program and food assistance for pupils who are or may be experiencing food insecurity, and increased coordination with community services providing food assistance.

(2) Staffing and training costs related to implementing universal school meals, including any of the following:

(A) Staffing strategies, including recruitment, retention, training, and professional development for food service staff to increase capacity for freshly prepared onsite meals, which may include training on minimally processed, freshly prepared onsite meals, removal of ultraprocessed foods of concern and restricted school foods from menus, sourcing locally and sustainably grown foods, food preparation, healthy food marketing, reducing food waste, and changing the school lunchroom environment.

(B) Additional compensation for additional work relating to serving universal school meals that may include minimally processed, locally and sustainably grown foods, a plant-based or restricted diet food option, or a plant-based milk option.

(3) Procurement of California-grown, whole or minimally processed, sustainably grown food from California producers, plant-based food and milk options, or restricted diet food options for inclusion in reimbursable meals served through the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program, as determined by the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture.

(4) Establishment or expansion of food pantries on schoolsites, which may serve pupils and their family members.

(5) Hands-on food education opportunities that engage pupils and connect the classroom with the cafeteria, including, but not limited to, activities in school gardens, on farms, in culinary classes, in settings that celebrate traditional foodways and cultivate food sovereignty, and through other experiential learning pathways.

(b) The department shall award grant funds as allocations to local educational agencies, using criteria established by the department, consistent with this section. The department shall give priority, to the greatest extent possible, in this given order:

(1) (A) Base Allocation Funding: each eligible local educational agency shall receive a base funding amount, to be determined by the department, to be used for any of the purposes specified in paragraphs (1) to (3) , inclusive, of subdivision (a).

(B) Priority shall be given to eligible local educational agencies that did not receive funds for kitchen infrastructure or training pursuant to Section 12 of Chapter 744 of the Statutes of 2025.

(2) Free or Reduced-Price Meals Pupil Population Allocation Funding: additional funding, if available, shall be allocated to eligible local educational agencies serving high populations of pupils who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, as defined in Section 42238.01.

(3) Additional funding, if available, shall be provided based on the total number for National School Lunch Program meals served from a given time period, to be determined by the State Department of Education.

(c) (1) As a condition of receiving funding pursuant to this section, a local educational agency shall provide a progress report and final report to the department, to be made available to other state agencies upon request. The final report shall be submitted on or before June 30, 2031, and include both of the following, as applicable:

(A) How the local educational agency used the funding to improve the quality of school meals, including, but not limited to, eliminating food options containing processed foods, ultraprocessed foods of concern, and restricted school foods, lowering the sodium and sugar levels in meal options, and offering more freshly prepared meal options.

(B) How the local educational agency used the funding to increase capacity for freshly prepared onsite meals using minimally processed, locally grown, and sustainable food.

(2) The department may develop forms or designate existing forms that may be used by local educational agencies to comply with paragraph (1) .

(3) To the extent practicable, the department shall allow local educational agencies that have previously received funding for kitchen infrastructure and training to consolidate grant reporting pursuant to this subdivision.

(d) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Federal school meal program” means the federal National School Lunch Program, the federal School Breakfast Program, or the federal Seamless Summer Option.

(2) “Food service staff” means a person employed on a full-time or part-time basis as a classified school employee by a local educational agency.

(3) “Freshly prepared onsite meal” means food service in which the preparation of meals takes place on a daily basis at the site of consumption or in a central kitchen, using whole ingredients in their most basic, minimally processed form, or cooking with both fresh, raw, and whole ingredients and ready-made products.

(4) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school participating in the federal School Breakfast Program and the federal National School Lunch Program.

(5) “Nutritious” means, at minimum, foods that align with the federal and state standards for meals served through the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program, and as further defined for purposes of Section 49531.

(6) “Restricted school foods” has the same meaning as defined in Section 104662 of the Health and Safety Code.

(7) “Ultraprocessed foods of concern” has the same meaning as defined in Section 104662 of the Health and Safety Code.

(e) (1) For purposes of making the computations required by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, three hundred million dollars ($300,000,000) of the amount appropriated in subdivision (a) shall be deemed to be “General Fund revenues appropriated for school districts,” as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 41202, for the 2025–26 fiscal year, and included within the “total allocations to school districts and community college districts from General Fund proceeds of taxes appropriated pursuant to Article XIIIB,” as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 41202, for the 2025–26 fiscal year.

(2) For purposes of making the computations required by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) of the amount appropriated in subdivision (a) shall be deemed to be “General Fund revenues appropriated for school districts,” as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 41202, for the 2026–27 fiscal year, and included within the “total allocations to school districts and community college districts from General Fund proceeds of taxes appropriated pursuant to Article XIIIB,” as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 41202, for the 2026–27 fiscal year.