§ 18A:33-4 — School lunch, availability to all children; report to the Governor, Legislature; rules, regulations.

1. a. (1) Each school district shall make school lunch available to all students enrolled in the district, except at those schools that are exempt from the requirements of this section, as provided by section 2 of P.L.1974, c.53 (C.18A:33-5), within one year after the effective date of P.L.1974, c.53 (C.18A:33-4 et seq.). Each nonpublic school participating in the National School Lunch Program shall make school lunch available to all students enrolled at the nonpublic school within one year after the effective date of P.L.2023, c.336 (C.18A:33-14.2 et al.). (2) School lunches offered to students, pursuant to this section, shall meet minimum nutritional standards established by the United States Department of Agriculture. (3) School lunches offered, pursuant to this section, 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 lunches being made available, pursuant to this paragraph, to students who are eligible for reduced price lunch, shall be borne by the State. (4) Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, school lunches offered to students, pursuant to this section, shall also be made available, free of charge, to those students enrolled in the participating school district or nonpublic school, who are federally ineligible for free or reduced price meals, in accordance with the following schedule: (a) during the 2023-2024 school year, to each enrolled student who is federally ineligible for free or reduced price meals, but who has an annual household income that is not less than 186 percent, and not more than 199 percent, of the federal poverty level, as determined pursuant to section 16 of P.L.2022, c.104 (C.18A:33-21b1); and (b) during the 2024-2025 school year, to each enrolled student who is federally ineligible for free or reduced price meals, but who has an annual household income that is 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). b. The State shall provide funding to each participating school district and nonpublic school, as may be necessary to reimburse the cost of free lunches being served thereby to federally ineligible students, pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection a. of this section. c. The Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Education, shall annually prepare and submit, 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 thereby to facilitate the prompt identification and subsidized meals certification of students who are, respectively, categorically eligible or income-eligible for free or reduced price lunch under the National School Lunch Program; (2) the total number and percentage of students receiving subsidized school lunches in the preceding school year who have been determined to be, respectively, federally eligible for free school lunch, federally eligible for reduced price lunch, income-eligible for free school lunch on the basis of State-level income eligibility requirements, or neither categorically eligible nor income-eligible for free or reduced price school lunch; and (3) the number and percentage of all students, identified pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection, who are, respectively, from low-income families and from middle-income families. 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.1974, c. 53, s. 1, eff. July 1, 1974; amended 2022, c.104, s.2; 2023, c.336, s.2.