Bills to reduce child hunger in N.J. signed by governor

A package of bills sponsored by Senator M. Teresa Ruiz and Senator Shirley K. Turner to reduce child hunger in New Jersey — by ensuring that not only eligible students are able to access two meals a day at school, but that they also do not go hungry during the summer months — were signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy today.

According to Advocates for Children of New Jersey, 540,000 students in the state are eligible for free and reduced lunch in schools. Students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch are also eligible for free and reduced breakfast, but only a fraction of those students are getting it.

Current law requires that a school have a breakfast program if at least 20 percent of their students qualify for free or reducedprice lunch. However, a recent report by the Food Research and Action Center showed that New Jersey ranked 19th in the country for its low-income student participation rate.

The Governor signed the following bills aimed at improving access to school breakfast and lunch programs:

• S-1894 (Ruiz/Turner) — Requires “breakfast after the bell” program in all schools with 70 percent or more of students eligible for free or reduced price meals. Each district will be required to submit a plan for the establishment of a “breakfast after the bell” program within six months of the law’s effective date. No later than one year after submission of the plan, the district will be required to implement the program.

• S-1895 (Ruiz/Turner) — Requires school districts, with at least one school that qualifies for the “Community Eligibility Provision” to submit a report on nonparticipation. The (CEP) is a federally funded reimbursement alternative for eligible, high-poverty local educational agencies and schools participating in both the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. It allows the nation’s highest poverty schools and school districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting individual household applications.

• S-1896 (Ruiz/Turner) — Requires school districts to report quarterly to the Department of Agriculture the number of students who are denied school breakfast or school lunch. The department will forward the information to the Department of Education.

• S-1897 (Ruiz/Turner) — Expands summer meal program to all school districts with 50 percent or more of students eligible for free or reduced price meals. The law requires each school district to become a sponsor of the Summer Food Service Program within two years of enactment. The “Summer Food Service Program” is a federal program that reimburses sponsors for administrative and operational costs to provide meals for children 18 years of age and younger during periods when they are out of school for 15 or more consecutive school days.