BP 3550 — Food Service/Child Nutrition Program

Section: 3000 - Business and Non-Instructional Operations
Status: Active

Adopted: 2021-09-09

Revised: 2024-10-10

Policy text

FOOD SERVICE/CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAM

The Governing Board recognizes that adequate, nourishing food is essential to student health, development, and ability to learn. The Superintendent or designee shall develop strategies to increase student’s access to and participation in the district’s food service programs and maintain fiscal integrity of the programs in accordance with law.

Foods and beverages available through the district’s food service program shall:

Be carefully selected so as to contribute to students’ nutritional well-being and the prevention of disease
Meet or exceed nutrition standards specified in law and administrative regulation
Be prepared in ways that will appeal to students, retain nutritive quality, and foster lifelong healthful eating habits
Be served in age-appropriate portions

Each school day, a nutritionally adequate breakfast and lunch shall be made available at no cost to any student who requests a meal, including a student enrolled in an independent study program on any school day in which the student is scheduled for in-person educational activities of two or more hours. A nutritionally adequate breakfast or lunch is one that qualifies for reimbursement under the most current meal pattern for the federal School Breakfast Program or National School Lunch Program.

At the beginning of each school year, the Superintendent or designee shall communicate information related to the district’s food service programs to the public through available means, including, but not limited to, the district’s web site, social media, flyers, and school publications.

The district’s food service program shall give priority to serving freshly prepared onsite meals, using whole or minimally processed sustainable foods which are locally grown or produced, including fresh fruits and vegetables, and providing plant-based or restricted diet food options for students.

District schools are encouraged to establish school gardens and/or farm-to-school projects to increase the availability of safe, fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables for school meals, positively impact students’ knowledge related to food and nutrition, support the district’s nutrition education program, and increase students’ consumption of these foods and participation in school meals.

To the extent possible, the school meal program shall be coordinated with the nutrition education program, instructional program for teachers, parents/guardians and food service employees, available community resources, and other related district programs.

To encourage student participation in school meal programs, schools may offer multiple choices of food items within a meal service, provided all food items meet nutrition standards and all students are given an opportunity to select any food item.

To the extent possible, the Superintendent or designee shall invite students and parents/guardians to participate in the selection of foods of good nutritional quality for school menus.

Students shall be allowed adequate time and space to eat meals. To the extent possible, school, recess, operations, and transportation schedules shall be designed to promote participation in school meal programs.

The Superintendent or designee shall periodically review the adequacy of school facilities for cafeteria eating and food preparation.

In accordance with law, the Superintendent or designee shall develop and maintain a food safety program in order to reduce the risk of foodborne hazards at each step of the food preparation and service process.

The Superintendent or designee shall annually report to the Board on student participation in the district’s nutrition programs and the extent to which the district’s food services program meets state and federal nutrition standards for foods and beverages. In addition, the Superintendent or designee shall provide all necessary and available documentation required for the Administrative Review conducted by the California Department of Education (CDE) to ensure the food service program’s compliance with federal requirements related to nutrition standards, meal patterns, provision of drinking water, school meal environment, food safety, and other areas as required by CDE.