HB696: HB696 Education; lunch and school breakfast programs for public school students; provide

Georgia law already funds a state-wide school lunch program and lets local school systems run breakfast programs, but current law does not guarantee free meals for students at struggling schools or require systems to maximize federal meal funding. House Bill 696, called the "Every Child Fed Act," changes that by amending Georgia's Quality Basic Education Act (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-187). The bill requires the State Board of Education to fund free lunch and breakfast for students at public schools that rank in the bottom 25 percent statewide based on state performance ratings for the two most recent school years. Local school systems with such schools must start school breakfast programs and will be reimbursed at the federal meal rate, even if federal funding for the program later stops. The bill also requires school systems to adopt the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Community Eligibility Provision when eligible, sets nutrition and eligibility rules, and encourages using Georgia grown food. It repeals the old breakfast program law, O.C.G.A. § 20-2-66, and leaves that section reserved.

• Requires the State Board of Education to fund free school lunches for students at public schools ranked in the bottom 25 percent of state performance ratings over the two most recent school years.
• Requires local school systems with a bottom-25-percent school to establish and support a school breakfast program, and requires free breakfast for those schools' students too.
• Sets a state reimbursement rate for local breakfast programs equal to the federal per-meal rate, and keeps paying that rate even if federal breakfast funding runs out.
• Requires local school systems to adopt the USDA's Community Eligibility Provision (a program letting high-poverty schools serve free meals to all students) when a school reaches a 40 percent low-income student threshold.
• Directs the State Board of Education to write rules on nutrition standards, meal eligibility, notifying parents, and encouraging use of Georgia grown produce, dairy, and poultry in school meals.
• Repeals the existing school breakfast program law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-66) and leaves it reserved, replacing its content with the new breakfast requirements in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-187.

Public school students statewide, especially those attending the lowest-performing 25 percent of schools, who would get free lunch and breakfast. Local school systems and their food and nutrition staff would face new program and reporting requirements, and the State Board of Education and Department of Education would gain new funding and rulemaking duties.

Students at struggling schools would no longer pay for lunch or breakfast, which could reduce hunger-related barriers to learning. School systems would face new administrative duties to track eligibility, join federal free-meal programs, and keep serving meals at set reimbursement rates even if federal money dries up.

• Section 1 names the bill the "Every Child Fed Act."
• Section 2 repeals O.C.G.A. § 20-2-66, the current school breakfast program statute, and reserves the section number for future use.
• Section 3 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-187 to require the State Board of Education to fund free lunches for students at the lowest-performing 25 percent of schools based on ratings under O.C.G.A. § 20-14-33.
• Section 3 requires local systems with a bottom-25-percent school to run a breakfast program, reimbursed at the federal per-meal rate, continuing at that rate even if federal breakfast funding stops.
• Section 3 requires local school systems to adopt the USDA Community Eligibility Provision once a school or site reaches a 40 percent identified student percentage, and to group schools to maximize eligibility.
• Section 3 directs the State Board of Education to set nutrition standards, income eligibility rules, parent notification requirements, compliance plans, and support for start-up grants and Georgia grown food purchases.
• Section 3 keeps existing rules barring use of local five-mill share funds for these payments and continuing state funding formulas for school food and nutrition personnel salaries.
• Section 4 repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2025-03-04House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-03-03House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-28House Hopper (House)

• Mary Ann Santos (D, HD-117)Primary sponsor
• Tyler Smith (R, HD-018)
• Bryce Berry (D, HD-056)
• Yasmin Neal (D, HD-079)
• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)
• Long Tran (D, HD-080)

• school lunch
• school breakfast
• education funding
• child nutrition
• low-performing schools