Georgia CommonsSB 217: 'Healthy Start"; enact
Last action February 20, 2025 · Senate Read and Referred
Senate Bill 217, the "Healthy Start" act, would require Georgia public schools with enough low-income students to offer free breakfast programs and would guarantee free meals for students who qualify for reduced-price lunch and breakfast under federal and state rules.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Currently, Georgia law lets the State Board of Education fund a school lunch program and separately addresses school breakfast in a different code section. This bill repeals that old breakfast section and rewrites the main school lunch law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-187) to combine lunch and breakfast funding into one system focused on making sure every public school student has access to healthy meals. The bill requires schools with at least 40 percent of students eligible for free or reduced meals to run a breakfast program, reimbursed by the state at the federal rate if federal funding ever stops. It requires students who qualify for reduced-price meals to get those meals at no cost, and it directs local school systems to adopt the USDA's Community Eligibility Provision, which lets high-poverty schools serve free meals to all students without individual applications. The bill also sets funding formulas for cafeteria staff pay, encourages buying Georgia-grown food, and directs the State Board of Education to write rules on nutrition standards, eligibility, and compliance.
What the bill does
- Repeals the old school breakfast code section (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-66) and folds breakfast funding into the main school lunch law.
- Requires schools where at least 40 percent of students qualify for free or reduced meals to establish and run a school breakfast program.
- Guarantees free meals, not just reduced-price meals, for any student who qualifies for reduced-price meals under federal and state guidelines.
- Requires local school systems to adopt the USDA's Community Eligibility Provision or another federal option that maximizes federal meal funding.
- Sets specific state payment rates for cafeteria staff, including a base payment of at least $161 per month per full-time position and up to $100 extra per month for food service managers.
- Directs the State Board of Education to write rules on nutrition standards, eligibility screening, compliance plans, and encourages use of Georgia-grown food in school meals.
Who it affects
Public school students statewide, especially those who qualify for free or reduced-price meals; local school systems and their food and nutrition staff, who face new program and staffing requirements; the State Board of Education, which must write new rules; and Georgia farmers and food producers whose products schools are encouraged to buy.
Why it matters
Students at high-poverty schools would get breakfast programs they may not currently have, and students who qualify for reduced-price meals would no longer pay anything out of pocket. School systems would face new administrative requirements around federal meal programs and staffing pay formulas that affect their budgets.
Key provisions
- Section 1 gives the bill the short title 'Healthy Start.'
- Section 2 repeals and reserves O.C.G.A. § 20-2-66, the old standalone school breakfast program law.
- Section 3 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-187 so the State Board of Education must fund meals to ensure students eligible for reduced-price meals get them at no cost.
- New subsection (b) requires schools or sites with at least 40 percent of students meeting eligibility thresholds to run a breakfast program, reimbursed at the federal rate even if federal funding stops.
- New subsection (d) requires local school systems to adopt the USDA's Community Eligibility Provision or similar federal option to maximize federal funding, and to group schools to increase eligibility where practical.
- New subsection (e) directs the State Board of Education to set nutrition standards, income eligibility rules, notification requirements for parents, and compliance plans, and to help schools apply for start-up grants.
- New subsection (g) sets staff funding formulas, including a base payment of at least $161 per month per full-time food and nutrition position and up to $100 per month extra for managers.
- Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“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.”
“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”
“Encourage and assist participating local school systems in using Georgia grown produce, dairy, and poultry products.”
Status timeline
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Nabilah Islam Parkes (D, SD-007)
- Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
- Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
- Jason Esteves (D, SD-035)
- Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
- Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
- Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
- Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)
- Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
- Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
- Donzella James (D, SD-028)
- RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
- David Lucas (D, SD-026)
- Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)
- Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
- Michael Rhett (D, SD-033)
Topics
- school meals
- school breakfast programs
- child nutrition
- education funding
- Georgia grown food