AN ACT CONCERNING SCHOOL NUTRITION.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 10-221o of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2005):

Each local and regional board of education shall require each school under its jurisdiction to (1) offer all full day students a daily lunch period of not less than twenty minutes, and (2) include in the regular school day for each student enrolled in grades kindergarten to five, inclusive, a minimum period of twenty minutes per day and one hundred minutes per week, where there is an opportunity for the student to engage in physical exercise, in addition to any physical education requirements, except that a planning and placement team may develop a different schedule for a child requiring special education and related services in accordance with chapter 164 and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 USC 1400 et seq., as amended from time to time. In the event of a conflict with this section and any provision of chapter 164, such other provision of chapter 164 shall be deemed controlling.

Sec. 2. Section 10-220f of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2005):

(a) Each local and regional board of education may establish a school district safety committee to increase staff and student awareness of safety [and health] issues and to review the adequacy of emergency response procedures at each school. Parents and high school students shall be included in the membership of such committees.

(b) Each local and regional board of education shall establish a School Wellness Committee to monitor and implement nutrition and physical activity policies required pursuant to the provisions of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, P.L. 108-265. Each such committee shall make recommendations to its board of education regarding ordering Connecticut grown foods for inclusion in school meals, conducting school fundraisers with either healthy food or nonfood items, establishing a nutrition education curriculum and promoting physical education and exercise. Members of the committee shall include, but need not be limited to, a school administrator, a physical education teacher, a teacher who does not teach physical education, a school nurse, the food service director for the school district, two parents of children enrolled in a school in the school district, a middle school student and a high school student.

Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2005) (a) Each local and regional board of education shall require each school under its jurisdiction to permit only the following beverages to be offered on school premises for sale to students or for consumption by students from any source, including, but not limited to, school stores, vending machines, school cafeterias, and any school sponsored or nonschool sponsored fundraising activities: (1) Water, (2) milk, including, but not limited to, chocolate milk, soy milk, rice milk and other similar dairy or nondairy milk, (3) one hundred per cent fruit juice, and (4) fruit-based drinks that are composed of no less than fifty per cent fruit juice and have no added natural or artificial sweeteners.

(b) Each local and regional board of education shall require each high school in its jurisdiction to permit only the following beverages to be offered on school premises for sale to or consumption by students, from any source, including, but not limited to, school stores, vending machines, school cafeterias, and any school sponsored or nonschool sponsored fundraising activities: (1) The beverages listed in subsection (a) of this section, and (2) beginning one-half hour after the end of the regular school day, electrolyte replacement beverages containing no more than forty-two grams of added sweetener per twenty ounce serving.

Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2005) Not later than January 1, 2006, and January first of each year thereafter, the Department of Education shall publish a list of recommended snack foods, other than beverages, that may be offered as the only snacks on school premises for sale to or for consumption by students at schools, from any source, including, but not limited to, school stores, vending machines, school cafeterias and school sponsored and nonschool sponsored fundraising activities. Local and regional boards of education shall implement and enforce such recommendations, as amended from time to time, not later than August 15, 2006, and annually thereafter.

Sec. 5. Subsection (a) of section 10-266w of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2005):

(a) For each fiscal year, each local and regional board of education having at least one school building designated as a severe need school, as defined by federal law governing school nutrition programs, in the fiscal year two years prior to the grant year, shall be eligible to receive a grant to assist in providing school breakfasts to all students in each eligible severe need school, provided any local or regional board having at least one school building so designated shall participate in the federal school breakfast program on behalf of all severe need schools in the district with grades eight or under in which at least [eighty] forty per cent of the lunches served are served to students who are eligible for free or reduced price lunches pursuant to federal law and regulations.

Sec. 6. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2005) Not later than January 1, 2006, the Department of Agriculture shall institute a state-wide data base of state farms, and products and availability of those products to schools in the state. The Department of Education shall notify all schools of the availability of such data base. All schools shall have access to such data base for use in ordering Connecticut grown products for inclusion in school meals.

Statement of Purpose:

To require a daily minimum period of physical activity for students, to require the establishment of committees to monitor and implement nutrition and physical activity policies, to limit the types of beverages available to students, to require the Department of Education to develop and make available to school districts a list of healthy snacks that may be consumed by students, to increase the number of children participating in the school breakfast program and to encourage the use of Connecticut grown products in school meals.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]