---
title: HB 60. Healthy Start Act; enact
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb60
cite_as: HB 60, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb60
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb60.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb60/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69372
date: 2025-01-17
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb60.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 60
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-01-15
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Imani Barnes
- Carolyn Hugley
- Mary Oliver
- Scott Holcomb
- Kimberly Alexander
- Rhonda Burnough
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB60/2025
upstream_id: 1922263
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- school meals
- school breakfast programs
- child nutrition
- education funding
- Community Eligibility Provision
---
# HB 60. Healthy Start Act; enact
## Text
House Bill 60
By: Representatives Barnes of the 86th, Hugley of the 141st, Oliver of the 84th, Holcomb of
the 101st, Alexander of the 66th, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
elementary and secondary education, so as to provide for school lunch and school breakfast
programs for public school students in this state; to provide for such meals to be offered at
no cost to students who qualify for reduced price meals under federal and state guidelines;
to provide for school breakfast programs under the Quality Basic Education Act; to provide
for funding; to require local school systems to maximize access to federal funding; to provide
for participating in the United States Department of Agriculture's Community Eligibility
Provision (CEP); to provide for rules and regulations; to encourage the use of Georgia grown
products in school breakfast and lunch programs; to provide a short title; to provide for
related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Healthy Start."
SECTION 2.
Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary and
secondary education, is amended in Article 3, relating to local boards of education, by
repealing and reserving Code Section 20-2-66, relating to school breakfast programs.
SECTION 3.
Said chapter is further amended in Part 5 of Article 6, relating to program weights and
funding requirements, by revising Code Section 20-2-187, relating to state-wide school lunch
program, instruction in nutrition, hygiene, etiquette, and social graces, and school food and
nutrition personnel, as follows:
"20-2-187.
(a)(1) The State Board of Education shall annually determine the amount of state funds
needed to provide a state-wide school lunch program to ensure all students enrolled in
public schools in this state have access to high-quality healthy meals to support student
learning, and such amount shall include, but shall not be limited to, funds sufficient to
ensure that such meals are offered at no cost to students who are eligible for reduced price
meals under federal and state guidelines. The state board shall, by regulation, provide for
certifying and classifying school lunch food and nutrition supervisors and managers and
establish training programs for school lunch food and nutrition personnel. The state board
is authorized to provide for the payment of:
(A)(1) Operating costs of school lunchrooms cafeterias, including, but not limited to,
breakfast costs, as financed by federal funds, for those students eligible under federal
guidelines;
(B)(2) State supplements to the salaries paid to such personnel by local units of
administration; and
(C)(3) State incentive pay for satisfactory completion of such training programs.
(2) An application of local five mill share funds pursuant to Code Section 20-2-164 shall
not be made for payments to local units of administration under this Code section. Any
state funds appropriated for this purpose shall be used to supplement federal funds as a
means of keeping sale prices within reach of paying students and of maximizing
participation and quality meals for all students.
(b)(1) Each local school system in this state is encouraged to establish and support a
school breakfast program to make breakfast available to students.
(2) Each local school system that has a school or site with an identified student
percentage of at least 40 percent, or an identified student percentage of less than 40
percent if authorized by federal law, as determined annually by the deadline set by the
United States Department of Agriculture, shall establish and support a school breakfast
program.
(3) Each local school system operating a school breakfast program pursuant to
paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection shall be reimbursed by the state at the federal
reimbursement rate per eligible meal prepared and served; provided, however, that, if
federal funding for the school breakfast program ceases, the state shall reimburse each
local school system operating a school breakfast program at the federal reimbursement
rate per eligible meal prepared and served that was in effect during the most recent full
school year during which federal funds were available. The State Board of Education
shall annually determine the amount of state funds needed to ensure all students enrolled
in public schools in this state operating a school breakfast program have access to
high-quality healthy meals to support student learning, and such amount shall include, but
shall not be limited to, funds sufficient to ensure that such meals are offered at no cost to
students who are eligible for reduced price meals under federal and state guidelines.
(c) An application of local five mill share funds pursuant to Code Section 20-2-164 shall
not be made for payments to local units of administration under this Code section. Any
state funds appropriated for this purpose shall be used to supplement federal funds as a
means of maximizing student participation in school lunch programs and school breakfast
programs, to ensure all students enrolled in public schools in this state have access to
high-quality healthy meals to support student learning and that such meals are offered at
no charge to all students enrolled in a public school in this state.
(d) Local school systems shall maximize access to federal funds for the cost of school
lunch and school breakfast programs by adopting the United States Department of
Agriculture's Community Eligibility Provision or any other federal provision that, in the
opinion of the Department of Education, results in the most possible federal funding for
meals served in such program. Each local school system that has a school or site with an
identified student percentage of at least 40 percent, or an identified student percentage of
less than 40 percent if 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. Local school systems, to the
extent practicable, shall group public schools for purposes of maximizing the number of
schools eligible to participate in the Community Eligibility Provision.
(e) The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules and regulations which:
(1) Establish minimum nutritional requirements for school lunch programs and school
breakfast programs which meet or exceed the minimum federal requirements;
(2) Utilize federal standards of income eligibility for free or reduced price meals for
low-income students;
(3) Prescribe uniform methods of determining eligibility for free or reduced price meals
that are discreet and accessible. Each participating local school system shall establish a
method to regularly notify parents of the availability of such programs;
(4) Provide that each participating local school system submit a plan of compliance;
(5) Provide that compliance with the standards and regulations of the National School
Lunch Act and Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended, shall be deemed compliance
with the requirements promulgated by the board;
(6) Assist participating local school systems in applying for and obtaining start-up grant
money for such programs; and
(7) Encourage and assist participating local school systems in using Georgia grown
produce, dairy, and poultry products.
(b)(f) The State Board of Education is authorized to prescribe by appropriate rules and
regulations that there may be included as part of the program of every public school in this
state a course of instruction in nutrition, hygiene, etiquette, and the social graces relating
to the partaking of meals and is further authorized to allot funds, in a manner consistent
with the funding for the other various components of the instructional program, to local
units of administration for costs directly associated with this program. There may be
utilized in the course of instruction the full resources available to each individual school,
including its cafeterias, school lunch food and nutrition personnel, and all practical
demonstrations in the preparation and consumption of food which may be necessary to
formulate a comprehensive course of instruction in such subject matter. Any period of the
school day may be utilized for the teaching of this course of instruction, including that
period usually reserved for the lunch period.
(c)(1)(g)(1) The State Board of Education shall establish a system of allotments of funds
to local units of administration to provide for services rendered on a ten-month basis by
school food and nutrition personnel. The amount of funds paid to any local unit of
administration shall be paid in 12 monthly payments and shall be based upon the number
of full-time equivalent school lunch food and nutrition positions needed to plan, prepare,
and serve meals in that local unit of administration, multiplied by an annual base
payment. For each school food and nutrition manager, the local unit of administration
shall earn the base payment as well as an amount not to exceed $100.00 per month.
(2) The base payment shall be calculated on the basis of 1,520 hours in an annual school
year for a full-time equivalent school lunch food and nutrition position, multiplied by an
amount not less than $161.00 per month for 12 months. Future annual increases in the
base payment shall reflect the same percentage increase provided by the state for other
state funded positions. The state board shall annually establish a state performance
standard and shall determine the number of full-time equivalent school lunch food and
nutrition positions needed to plan, prepare, and serve meals based on the state
performance standard and the average daily number of student lunches meals served
during the preceding school year.
(3) Each local unit of administration shall establish a staffing pattern and determine the
number of personnel to employ. Local units of administration shall establish the salary
schedule for school food and nutrition personnel and shall use the base payments in
financing the locally established salary schedule."
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
House Bill 60, the "Healthy Start" Act, would require Georgia public schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to students who currently qualify only for reduced-price meals, and would push high-poverty schools into a federal free-meal program.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia law currently lets the State Board of Education fund a school lunch program and encourages, but does not require, school breakfast programs. This bill rewrites O.C.G.A. ยง 20-2-187 to require the State Board to fund enough money each year so that students who qualify for reduced-price meals under federal and state rules get their meals at no cost, for both lunch and breakfast.
The bill also requires any school where at least 40 percent of students are automatically identified as low-income to run a breakfast program and to join the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which lets high-poverty schools serve free meals to all students without individual applications. Local school systems must group schools together where practical to qualify more schools for CEP. The bill sets pay and staffing rules for school food and nutrition workers, repeals the old breakfast program code section, and encourages schools to buy Georgia-grown food.
### What it does
- Requires the State Board of Education to fund school lunches and breakfasts at no cost to students who qualify for reduced-price meals under federal and state guidelines.
- Requires any school with at least 40 percent of students automatically identified as low-income to establish a breakfast program and join the USDA's Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).
- Requires the state to reimburse local school systems for breakfast meals at the federal rate, and to keep paying that rate even if federal breakfast funding stops.
- Directs local school systems to group schools together to maximize the number eligible for the Community Eligibility Provision.
- Sets state board rules for nutrition standards, eligibility determination, compliance plans, and encourages use of Georgia-grown produce, dairy, and poultry in school meals.
- Repeals the existing Code Section 20-2-66 on school breakfast programs and folds breakfast rules into a rewritten Code Section 20-2-187.
### Who it affects
Public school students statewide, especially those who qualify for reduced-price meals or attend high-poverty schools; local school systems and their food and nutrition staff, who face new program and reporting requirements; and the State Board of Education, which must set funding levels and new rules.
### Why it matters
Students who currently pay a reduced price for lunch or breakfast would get those meals free, and many high-poverty schools would be required to start or expand breakfast programs and join a federal program that serves free meals to entire student bodies without separate applications, changing daily meal costs for families and administrative work for schools.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 gives the bill the short title "Healthy Start."
- Section 2 repeals and reserves Code Section 20-2-66, the existing school breakfast program provision.
- Section 3 rewrites Code Section 20-2-187 to require the State Board of Education to fund meals at no cost for students eligible for reduced-price meals under federal and state guidelines.
- New subsection (b) requires schools with an identified student percentage of at least 40 percent to establish breakfast programs, reimbursed by the state at the federal rate per meal.
- New subsection (d) requires local school systems to adopt the USDA's Community Eligibility Provision or another provision that maximizes federal funding, and to group schools to increase CEP eligibility.
- New subsection (e) directs the State Board to set minimum nutrition standards, income eligibility rules, a discreet eligibility process, and support for Georgia-grown food purchases.
- Subsection (g) sets staffing and pay formulas for school food and nutrition personnel, including a base payment of at least $161.00 per month and up to $100.00 extra per month for managers.
- Section 4 repeals conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-01-15)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-01-17)
- Sponsors: Imani Barnes, Carolyn Hugley, Mary Oliver, Scott Holcomb, Kimberly Alexander, Rhonda Burnough
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69372
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb60.md?full=1