HB 696: Education; lunch and school breakfast programs for public school students; provide

Georgia currently funds a state-wide school lunch program and leaves school breakfast programs mostly optional. This bill, titled the Every Child Fed Act, rewrites the state law on school meals (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-187) to guarantee that students at public schools ranked in the bottom 25 percent of school performance receive both lunch and breakfast at no cost. It requires the State Board of Education to calculate each year how much state money is needed to make that happen. The bill also requires every local school system to try to get as much federal money as possible for meals, including by joining the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Community Eligibility Provision (a program that lets high-poverty schools serve free meals to all students) when a school has enough low-income students to qualify. It sets new pay and training rules for cafeteria staff, encourages the use of Georgia-grown food, and repeals the old, separate school breakfast law since breakfast rules are now folded into the lunch program section.

• Requires the State Board of Education to fund free school lunch and school breakfast for students at public schools ranked in the bottom 25 percent statewide.
• Requires local school systems with low-performing schools to create and support a school breakfast program, and encourages all other districts to do the same.
• Requires districts to join the USDA's Community Eligibility Provision, which lets qualifying high-poverty schools serve free meals to every student, once a school meets the federal poverty threshold.
• Sets state reimbursement rates for school breakfast programs, including a backup rate if federal breakfast funding ever stops.
• Directs the State Board of Education to write rules on meal nutrition standards, eligibility, compliance plans, and using Georgia-grown produce, dairy, and poultry in school meals.
• Repeals the old, separate school breakfast program law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-66) and folds breakfast funding into the main school meals code section.

Public school students statewide, especially those attending the lowest-performing 25 percent of schools, who would get free lunch and breakfast. Local school systems, cafeteria staff, the State Board of Education, and the Department of Education would all have new duties, and Georgia farmers producing food for schools are named as an intended beneficiary.

Students at struggling schools would no longer pay for lunch or breakfast, which could reduce family food costs and address hunger that affects learning. Districts would face new administrative requirements to chase federal funding and offer breakfast, changes that could shift local budgets and cafeteria staffing.

• Section 1 names the bill the 'Every Child Fed Act.'
• Section 2 repeals the existing school breakfast program law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-66), reserving that code section for future use.
• Section 3 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-187 to require free lunch and breakfast for students at schools in the bottom 25 percent of state performance ratings, based on Office of Student Achievement rankings over the two most recent school years.
• Section 3 requires local school systems to reimburse breakfast programs at federal rates, with a fallback state rate if federal funds are cut off.
• Section 3 requires districts to adopt the USDA's Community Eligibility Provision when a school has at least 40 percent of students automatically eligible for free meals, and to group schools to maximize eligibility.
• Section 3 directs the State Board of Education to set nutrition standards, uniform eligibility rules, parent notification requirements, and compliance plans for participating districts.
• Section 3 sets cafeteria staff pay rules, including a base payment calculated on a 1,520-hour annual schedule at not less than $161.00 per month, plus up to $100.00 per month extra for managers.
• Section 3 encourages districts to use Georgia-grown produce, dairy, and poultry products in school meal programs.

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 Paul Smith (R, HD-18)
• Bryce Berry (D, HD-56)
• Yasmin Neal (D, HD-79)
• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)
• Long Tran (D, HD-80)

• school meals
• free school lunch
• school breakfast programs
• education funding
• child nutrition