1. The Legislature finds and declares that numerous studies document that childhood hunger impedes learning and can cause lifelong health problems; and that, in New Jersey, tens of thousands of children suffer from hunger each year, with nearly 540,000 students living in low-income families that are federally eligible for free or reduced price school meals.

The Legislature further finds and declares that New Jersey schools have made great strides in serving breakfast to more students at the start of the school day, achieving a 73 percent increase since 2010; and that, despite this progress, only 44 percent of low-income students in New Jersey received breakfast through the federal School Breakfast Program, according to the most recent data published by Advocates for Children of New Jersey, meaning that approximately 304,000 low-income students who were already enrolled in the program, as of April 2017, were not served this all-important morning meal.

The Legislature further finds and declares that New Jersey law, at section 2 of P.L.2003, c.4 (C. 18A:33-10), requires a public school to provide school breakfast to its students if 20 percent or more of the students enrolled in the school on October 1 of the preceding school year were federally eligible for free or reduced price meals; that section 6 of P.L.2022, c.104 (C. 18A:33-10.1) expands existing law so as to require a public school to provide school breakfast to students if 10 percent or more of the students enrolled in the school on October 1 of the preceding school year were federally eligible for free or reduced priced meals; that, despite these breakfast program requirements, current law does not specify how breakfast is to be served to students; and that, by requiring high-poverty schools to serve breakfast to students through a breakfast after the bell program, New Jersey schools will reach a much larger percentage of children in need, thereby helping to further their academic success.

The Legislature further finds and declares that the federal government reimburses schools for each meal served, and that this expansion can, therefore, be easily accomplished; that, since 2010, the amount of federal school breakfast reimbursements has more than doubled from about $45 million to an anticipated $105 million in fiscal year 2018; and that Advocates for Children of New Jersey estimates that school districts could collect an additional $89 million in federal funds for school breakfast each year if breakfast is served during the first few minutes of the school day.

The Legislature, therefore, determines that: it shall be the public policy of the State to help remove a major barrier to learning by providing children the nutrition they need to succeed in school; it is the understanding and the intention of the Legislature to make breakfast an integral part of the school day; and the implementation of breakfast after the bell programs is the most effective way to ensure that all students have the morning nutrition they need to concentrate, learn, and succeed in school.

L.2018, c.25, s.1; amended 2022, c.104, s.9.