§ 18A:33-14a — School breakfast, minimum nutritional standards, eligibility.

12. a. (1) School breakfasts made available to students under a school breakfast program or a breakfast after the bell program shall meet minimum nutritional standards, established by the United States Department of Agriculture. (2) Breakfasts that are offered, by a participating school district or nonpublic school, under a school breakfast program or a breakfast after the bell program, shall be made available, free of charge, to all students enrolled in the district or in the nonpublic school, as the case may be, who are determined to be federally eligible for free or reduced price meals. As provided by section 1 of P.L.2019, c.445 (C.18A:33-21.1), the unreimbursed costs of free breakfasts being made available, pursuant to this paragraph, to students who are federally eligible for reduced price breakfast, shall be borne by the State. (3) Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, breakfasts offered under a school breakfast program or a breakfast after the bell program shall also be made available, free of charge, to each enrolled student who is determined to be federally ineligible for free or reduced price meals, but who has an annual household income amounting to not less than 186 percent, and not more than 224 percent, of the federal poverty level, as determined pursuant to section 16 of P.L.2022, c.104 (C.18A:33-21b1). As provided by subsection b. of this section, the unreimbursed costs of free breakfasts being offered to federally ineligible students, pursuant to this paragraph, shall be borne by the State. b. The State shall provide funding to each school that operates a School Breakfast Program or a breakfast after the bell program, as may be necessary to reimburse the costs associated with the school's provision of free breakfasts, pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection a. of this section, to students who are federally ineligible for free or reduced price meals. c. The Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Education, shall annually prepare and issue, to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature, a written report that identifies, for each participating school district and nonpublic school in the State: (1) the methods that are being used, by each such school or school district, to facilitate the prompt identification and subsidized meals certification of students who are categorically eligible or income-eligible for free or reduced price breakfast under the federal School Breakfast Program; (2) the total number and percentage of students receiving subsidized school breakfasts, in the preceding year, who have been determined to be, respectively, federally eligible for free school breakfast, federally eligible for reduced price school breakfast, income-eligible for free school breakfast on the basis of State-level income eligibility requirements, or neither categorically eligible nor income-eligible for free or reduced price school breakfast; and the number and percentage of all such students who are, respectively, from low-income families and from middle-income families; and (3) the methods that are being used, by each such school and district, to provide breakfast to students under the federal School Breakfast Program, including an indication as to whether breakfast is being provided to students through a breakfast after the bell program. d. The Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Education, shall adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to implement the provisions of this section, including, but not limited to, rules and regulations establishing a schedule for, and identifying the manner in which, State-level reimbursements are to be made pursuant to subsection b. of this section. L.2022, c.104, s.12; amended 2023, c.336, s.5.