SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) Studies have shown that schoolchildren who receive nutritious meals are more likely to have higher achievement scores and fewer disciplinary problems, and less likely to be absent or tardy to class.
(b) Schoolchildren who are considered low income or receive public assistance qualify for free or reduced‑priced school meals. The State Department of Education and the State Department of Health Services maintain various databases to ascertain which schoolchildren are eligible for these programs.
(c)
Schoolchildren who receive free or reduced‑priced meals at school must be certified as enrolled in a school meal program.
(d) The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-265) requires that any child receiving benefits under the federal Food Stamp Act be certified as eligible for free lunches under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) and free breakfasts under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.), without further application.
(e) Federal law requires the use of direct certification by school districts to be phased in over time with full implementation being realized by July 2008. Specifically, the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-265) requires state education agencies to enter into an agreement with appropriate state agencies
conducting eligibility determinations for the Food Stamp Program established pursuant to the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.).
(f) Research has shown that direct certification increases the participation of low-income schoolchildren in free school meals. Research has also shown direct certification improves the integrity of the meal programs because it ensures that the children receiving the meals are truly needy.
(g) The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-110) requires states to establish a database to track pupils’ achievement.
(h) Chapter 1002 of the Statutes of 2002 requires the California Department of Education, consistent with the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, to establish the California
Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CalPADS) to track student achievement.
(i) The State Department of Health Services possesses a statewide Medical Eligibility Data System (MEDS), which stores data regarding recipients of food stamps and the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act program (the CalWORKs program) (Ch. 2 (commencing with Sec. 11200), Pt. 3, Div. 9, W.&I.C.).
(j) Both the CalPADS and the MEDS databases will include information that may facilitate a data‑matching process.
(k) Although direct certification will increase access to the school meal program by eligible schoolchildren, there is likewise an obligation to protect the privacy and confidentiality of these individuals. For example, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C.
1232g) prohibits entities that receive federal education funds from releasing educational records without the prior consent of the pupil’s parent or guardian.
(l) It is the intent of the Legislature to seek available federal funds appropriated by the federal Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (P.L. 108‑265) to offset the cost of developing a computerized data‑matching system for direct certification.