---
title: HB 696. Education; lunch and school breakfast programs for public school students; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb696
cite_as: HB 696, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb696
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb696.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb696/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71052
date: 2025-03-04
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-12
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/hb696.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 696
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-28
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Mary Ann Santos
- Tyler Smith
- Bryce Berry
- Yasmin Neal
- Spencer Frye
- Long Tran
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB696/2025
upstream_id: 1989300
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- school lunch
- school breakfast
- education funding
- child nutrition
- low-performing schools
---
# HB 696. Education; lunch and school breakfast programs for public school students; provide
## Text
House Bill 696
By: Representatives Santos of the 117th, Smith of the 18th, Berry of the 56th, Neal of the 79th,
Frye of the 122nd, 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 attend a school among the lowest performing 25 percent of schools
in the state; 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 for 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 "Every Child Fed Act."
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 under the "Quality Basic Education Act," 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 enrolled in a public
school that performed in the lowest 25 percent of all public schools based on the
cumulative individual school ratings, as provided for in subsection (d) of Code
Section 20-14-33, for the two most recent school years for which the Office of Student
Achievement issued such ratings.
(2) 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) Operating costs of school lunchrooms cafeterias, including, but not limited to, such
operating costs for breakfast costs, as programs financed by federal funds, for those
students eligible under federal guidelines;
(B) State supplements to the salaries paid to such personnel by local units of
administration; and
(C) 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 that performed in the lowest 25 percent
of all public schools based on the cumulative individual school ratings, as provided for
in subsection (d) of Code Section 20-14-33, for the two most recent school years for
which the Office of Student Achievement issued such ratings 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 enrolled in a school that performed in the lowest 25 percent of all public
schools based on the cumulative individual school ratings, as provided for in
subsection (d) of Code Section 20-14-33, for the two most recent school years for which
the Office of Student Achievement issued such ratings.
(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 as provided for in this Code
section.
(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 federal funding possible 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 United States
Department of Agriculture's Community Eligibility Provision in the subsequent school year
and throughout the duration of the United States Department of Agriculture's 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 United States Department of Agriculture's 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)(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 696 would require Georgia's lowest-performing public schools to offer free school lunch and breakfast, and would push local school systems statewide to draw down more federal meal funding.
### Plain-language summary
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.
### What it does
- 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.
### Who it affects
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.
### Why it matters
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.
### Key provisions
- 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.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-28)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-03-04)
- Sponsors: Mary Ann Santos, Tyler Smith, Bryce Berry, Yasmin Neal, Spencer Frye, Long Tran
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71052
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb696.md?full=1