Subchapter I. Definitions; Establishment of Healthy Schools Fund.

§ 38–821.01. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter, the term:

(1) "Alternative breakfast serving model" means a model of serving breakfast:

(A) Such as breakfast in the classroom or breakfast on grab-and-go carts, in which breakfast is:

(i) Offered in one or more locations with high student traffic other than the cafeteria; and

(ii) Available after the start of the school day or both before and after the start of the school day; and

(B) That has been proven to increase student participation in breakfast relative to the traditional serving model, in which breakfast is served in the cafeteria before the start of the school day.

(1A) "Animal product" means meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, eggs, honey, and any derivative thereof.

(1B) "Breakfast in the classroom" means an alternative breakfast serving model where students eat breakfast in the classroom after the start of the school day.

(1C)(A) "Drinking water source" means a source of water from which a person can reasonably be expected to consume or cook with the water originating from the source.

(B) "Drinking water source" shall not include a source of water for which a public school or public charter school posts a conspicuous sign pursuant to § 38-825.01a(a)(1)(C) or (b)(2)(C); provided, that a public school or public charter school shall designate at least one kitchen sink in each school kitchen as a drinking water source.

(1D) "Formula grants process" means a process developed by OSSE to distribute grants based on the availability of funding and the needs of schools, as identified through OSSE data collection tools.

(1E) "Good Food Purchasing Program's core values" means the following 5 core values established by the Center for Good Food Purchasing for its Good Food Purchasing Program:

(A) Local economics;

(B) Nutrition;

(D) Environmental sustainability; and

(E) Animal welfare.

(1F) "Health education" means instruction of the District of Columbia Health Education Standards.

(1G) Repealed.

(2) “Healthy Youth and Schools Commission” or “Commission” means the body established by § 38-827.01.

(3) “Locally grown” means grown in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, or West Virginia.

(4) “Locally processed” means processed at a facility in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, or West Virginia.

(5) “Meals” means breakfast, lunch, or after-school snacks served as a part of the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, or Summer Food Service Program, or after-school meals served as part of the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

(6) “Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity” means movement resulting in a substantially increased heart rate and breathing.

(6A) “Participating private school” means a private school that participates in the National School Lunch Program, established by the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, approved June 4, 1946 (60 Stat. 230; 42 U.S.C. § 1771 et seq.), and elects to participate in the Healthy Schools Act program.

(6B) "Physical activity" means bodily movement, including walking, dancing, or gardening.

(6C) "Physical education" means instruction based on the District of Columbia Physical Education Standards, of which at least 50% of the time is spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity.

(6D) "Plant-based food option" means food or beverages that:

(A) Are free of animal products; and

(B) With respect to the meat or meat alternate component of a meal, provide a source recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture as a meat alternate free of animal products for the purposes of the National School Lunch Program.

(7) “Public charter school” means a school chartered under Chapter 18 of this title [§ 38-1800.01 et seq.]. The term “public charter school” shall not include private or parochial schools.

(8) “Public school” means a school operated by the District of Columbia Public Schools, established by § 38-171.

(8A) "Remediation steps" means, at a minimum, actions to:

(A) Decrease the elevated lead concentration in a drinking water source to 5 parts per billion or less; or

(B) Preclude people from consuming or cooking with water from a drinking water source.

(8B) "Self-operated school food service" means a District-run program of planning, purchasing, preparing, storing, serving, and ensuring the safety of food served to students in public schools staffed and overseen by District employees and established pursuant to § 38-822.03a.

(8C) "Share table" is a location where school community members can place unopened or sealed foods to provide for other community members to take food that would otherwise be thrown away.

(9) “Sustainable agriculture” means an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long-term:

(A) Satisfy human food and fiber needs;

(B) Enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends;

(C) Make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls;

(D) Sustain the economic viability of farm operations; and

(E) Enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.

(10)(A) “Unprocessed” means foods that are nearest their whole, raw, and natural state, and contain no artificial flavors or colors, synthetic ingredients, chemical preservatives, or dyes.

(B) For the purposes of this paragraph, food which undergoes the following processes shall be deemed to be unprocessed:

(i) Cooling, refrigerating, or freezing;

(ii) Size adjustment through size reduction made by peeling, slicing, dicing, cutting, chopping, shucking, or grinding;

(iii) Drying or dehydration;

(iv) Washing;

(v) The application of high water pressure or “cold pasteurization”;

(vi) Packaging, such as placing eggs in cartons, and vacuum packing and bagging, such as placing vegetables in bags;

(vii) Butchering livestock, fish, or poultry; and

(viii) The pasteurization of milk.

(11) "Vegetarian food option" means food or beverages that:

(A) Are free of meat, poultry, and seafood; and

(B) With respect to the meat or meat alternate component of a meal, provide a source recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture as a meat alternate free of meat, poultry, and seafood for the purposes of the National School Lunch Program.

§ 38–821.02. Healthy school meal subsidies and healthy school grants.

(a) Repealed.

(b) Repealed.

(1) To provide additional funding for healthy school meals, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education shall reimburse public schools, public charter schools, participating private schools, and organizations participating in the Summer Food Service Program as follows:

(A) Twenty cents for each breakfast meal served that meets the requirements of §§ 38-822.02 and 38-822.03; and

(B) Ten cents for each lunch meal served that meets the requirements of §§ 38-822.02 and 38-822.03.

(2) Repealed.

(3) To eliminate the reduced-price copayment under § 38-822.03(b)(1), the Office of the State Superintendent of Education shall reimburse public schools, public charter schools, and participating private schools, for each lunch meal that meets the requirements of §§ 38-822.02 and 38-822.03 and is served to a student who qualifies for reduced-price meals, the greater of:

(A) Forty cents; or

(B) The difference between the U.S. Department of Agriculture reimbursement rate for a free lunch and a reduced-price lunch.

(4) Repealed.

(4A)(A) To provide resources to implement alternative breakfast serving models, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education shall provide an annual subsidy of $2 per student to public schools, public charter schools, and participating private schools that implement an approved alternative breakfast serving model.

(B) Schools shall use funds received pursuant to this paragraph to purchase equipment and supplies needed to operate the alternative breakfast serving model.

(5)(A) To encourage local foods to be served in schools, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education shall provide an additional 5 cents per day reimbursement to public schools, public charter schools, and participating private schools when at least one component of a reimbursable breakfast or lunch meal is comprised entirely of locally grown and unprocessed foods; provided, that the schools report the name and address of the farms where the locally grown foods were grown to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education.

(B) For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “locally grown and unprocessed foods” shall not include milk.

(6) To increase physical activity in schools, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education may issue grants through a competitive process or a formula grants process to public schools, public charter schools, or organizations that provide technical assistance to public schools or public charter schools to increase the amount of physical activity in schools; provided, that a school receiving a grant pursuant to this paragraph shall seek to:

(A) Meet the requirements of § 38-824.02; and

(B) Increase the amount of physical activity in which its students engage.

(7) To support school gardens or promote health education, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education shall make grants available, subject to the availability of funds, through a competitive process or a formula grants process to public schools, public charter schools, and other organizations.

(8) Repealed.

(9) To increase nutrition education in schools, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education shall make grants available, subject to the availability of funds, through either a competitive grant process or a formula grants process, to public schools, public charter schools, and organizations that provide technical assistance to public schools and public charter schools to incorporate nutrition education into the school day.

(10) To increase cafeteria staff's abilities to provide healthy meals for students, the Office of the State Superintendent for Education may issue grants through a competitive process or a formula grants process to public schools, public charter schools, or other organizations for the acquisition of school kitchen equipment and for providing training sessions on cooking skills and nutrition for school cafeteria workers and school food service vendors.

(11) To decrease food and food packaging waste at schools and provide greater food access to those in need, the Office of the State Superintendent for Education may issue grants through a competitive process or a formula grants process to local education agencies, schools, nonprofit organizations, or partnerships developed among schools or with nonprofit organizations to support efforts to address food and food packaging waste, including implementation and management of share tables, purchase or provision of reusable food service ware, including from third-party reusable food service ware providers, and other food waste and food waste packaging reduction programs.

(d) The Office of the State Superintendent of Education may, by rule, increase the amounts, as set forth in subsection (c) of this section, to further improve the quality and nutrition of school meals.

(e) The Office of the State Superintendent of Education may withhold local funds provided by subsection (c) of this section from public schools and public charter schools that do not meet any or all of the requirements of §§ 38-822.02, 38-822.03, 38-822.05, and 38-822.06.

(f) Repealed.

(g) Repealed.