1. a. (1) A school district that participates in the National School Lunch Program or the federal School Breakfast Program shall take steps to maximize the use of federal resources and to minimize the debt that is incurred by families for school meals, in accordance with a protocol established by the Department of Agriculture. The protocol established by the department, pursuant to this paragraph, shall be adopted within 180 days after the effective date of P.L.2022, c.104 (C. 18A:33-3.2 et al.), in consultation with the Department of Education, the School Nutrition Association of New Jersey, and all relevant stakeholders, and shall: (a) promote the increased certification of students from low-income families and middle-income families for free and reduced price school meals, in accordance with the provisions of P.L.2022, c.104 (C. 18A:33-3.2 et al.); and (b) identify best practices to maximize the receipt and use of federal resources by the district’s schools.

(2) The Department of Agriculture and Department of Education, in cooperation with each other, shall consult with, and provide direct assistance to, school districts to help them improve, simplify, and expedite the free and reduced price meal certification process and otherwise reduce the administrative burden on schools and school districts that results from such process.

(3) A school that serves lunch or breakfast to students and is eligible for special federal reimbursement under the Community Eligibility Provision, as provided by 7 C.F.R. part 245, shall, to the greatest extent practicable, participate in, and maximize the receipt of federal resources available under, that special assistance alternative. Every school district in which there is at least one school that qualifies for the Community Eligibility Provision, but is not implementing it, shall report the reasons therefor, in writing, to the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Education, in the manner prescribed by those departments. The report shall include, but need not be limited to, a description of the specific impediments at the school district to implementing the program, the specific actions that could be taken to remove those impediments, and the specific steps required to successfully implement the program in the following school year.

b. The Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Education, shall adopt, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C. 52:14B-1 et seq.), such rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section.

c. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2022, c.104)

L.2018, c.26, s.1; amended 2022, c.104, s.13.