I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3277 

To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to establish a program to improve 

the health and education of children through grants to expand school 

breakfast programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 21, 2009 

Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin (for herself, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. CORRINE BROWN

of Florida, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Mr. FILNER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

MASSA, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. SIRES, and Mr. STARK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to establish 

a program to improve the health and education of children through grants to expand school breakfast programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Student Breakfast and 

5 Education Improvement Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) approximately 60 percent of students in the 

2 United States are eligible to receive free or reduced3 price school lunches under the school lunch program 

4 established under the Richard B. Russell National 

5 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); 

6 (2) in fiscal year 2008, 8,520,000 students in 

7 the United States consumed free or reduced-price 

8 school breakfasts provided under the school break9 fast program established by section 4 of the Child 

10 Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773); 

11 (3) as of the date of enactment of this Act, ap12 proximately 83 percent of all public schools in the 

13 United States provide 9,500,000 school breakfasts 

14 each year under the program established by section 

15 4 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 1773) to at least 130,000 

16 students; 

(4) less than 1 17 ⁄2 of the low-income students who 

18 participate in the school lunch program also partici19 pate in the school breakfast program; 

20 (5) many students who are eligible for reduced21 price breakfasts and lunches can afford only 1 of 

22 those meals per day; 

23 (6) almost 17,000 schools that participate in 

24 the school lunch program do not participate in the 

25 school breakfast program; 


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1 (7) as of August 2008, over 13,000,000 chil2 dren, or 18 percent of all children, in the United 

3 States were living in poverty, and, in 2007, and 11 

4 percent of households in the United States were food 

5 insecure; 

6 (8) missing breakfast and the resulting hunger 

7 has been shown to lower the ability of children to 

8 learn and hinder academic performance; 

9 (9) provision 2 as established under subsections 

10 (b) through (k) of section 245.9 of title 7, Code of 

11 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), re12 duces application and administrative burdens for 

13 schools that provide universal free meals; 

14 (10) schools electing to implement school break15 fast programs face significant hurdles, such as start16 up costs and lack of participation, that require var17 ious additional resources for the best solution; 

18 (11) school districts that are participating in 

19 the provision 2 option described in paragraph (9) 

20 have found that the school districts can often pro21 vide universal free breakfast in schools with as little 

22 as 60 to 75 percent of students who are eligible for 

23 free and reduced-price school meals due to the sav24 ings realized from reduced administrative costs and 

25 improved economies of scale; 


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1 (12) studies suggest that eating breakfast clos2 er to class and test-taking time improves student 

3 performance on standardized tests relative to stu4 dents who skip breakfast or have breakfast at home; 

5 (13) studies show that children experiencing 

6 hunger are more likely to be hyperactive, absent, 

7 tardy, or have behavioral or attention problems; 

8 (14) students who eat a complete breakfast 

9 have been shown to make fewer mistakes and work 

10 faster in math exercises than those who eat a partial 

11 breakfast; 

12 (15) eating school breakfast has been shown to 

13 improve math grades, attendance, and punctuality; 

14 (16) providing breakfast in the classroom has 

15 been shown in several instances to improve attentive16 ness and academic performance, while reducing tar17 diness and disciplinary referrals; 

18 (17) providing universal free breakfast, espe19 cially in the classroom, has been shown to signifi20 cantly increase school breakfast participation rates 

21 and decrease absences and tardiness; 

22 (18) studies suggest that children who eat 

23 breakfast have more adequate nutrition and intake 

24 of nutrients, such as calcium, fiber, protein, and vi25 tamins A, E, D, and B6; 


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1 (19) studies suggest that some students who 

2 participate in the school breakfast program or other 

3 nutrition programs have a lower body mass index 

4 and risk of being overweight; and 

5 (20) use of local produce— 

6 (A) reduces dependence on foreign oil by 

7 reducing fuel consumption rates associated with 

8 the production or transportation of fruits and 

9 vegetables; and 

10 (B) can help to improve the ability of indi11 viduals using the procurement system to pro12 vide education on nutrition, farming, sustain13 ability, energy efficiency, and the importance of 

14 local purchases to the local economy. 

15 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to improve 

16 student learning and the classroom environment through 

17 expanded and improved school breakfast programs, par18 ticularly universal programs provided during the school 

19 day. 

20 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR EXPANSION OF SCHOOL BREAKFAST 

21 PROGRAMS TO IMPROVE HEALTH AND EDU22 CATION OF CHILDREN. 

23 The Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 

24 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 23. GRANTS FOR EXPANSION OF SCHOOL BREAKFAST 

2 PROGRAMS TO IMPROVE HEALTH AND EDU3 CATION OF CHILDREN. 

4 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF QUALIFYING SCHOOL.—In this 

5 section, the term ‘qualifying school’ means a school pro6 viding elementary or secondary education at least 65 per7 cent of the students of which are eligible for free or re8 duced-price school lunches under the school lunch program 

9 established under the Richard B. Russell National School 

10 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.). 

11 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab12 lish a program under which the Secretary shall provide 

13 grants, on a competitive basis, to local educational agen14 cies or State educational agencies for use in accordance 

15 with this section. 

16 ‘‘(c) GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES OR

17 STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—The amount of grants 

18 provided by the Secretary to local educational agencies or 

19 State educational agencies for a fiscal year under this sec20 tion shall not exceed the lesser of— 

21 ‘‘(1) the product obtained by multiplying— 

22 ‘‘(A) the number of qualifying schools re23 ceiving subgrants or other benefits under sub24 section (d) for the fiscal year; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the maximum amount of a subgrant 

2 provided to a qualifying school under subsection 

3 (d)(3)(B); or 

4 ‘‘(2) $2,000,000. 

5 ‘‘(d) SUBGRANTS TO QUALIFYING SCHOOLS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency 

7 or State educational agency receiving a grant under 

8 this section shall use funds made available under the 

9 grant to award subgrants to individual or groups of 

10 qualifying schools to carry out activities in accord11 ance with this section. 

12 ‘‘(2) STATE AND DISTRICT SUPPORT.—A local 

13 educational agency or State educational agency may 

14 allocate a portion of each subgrant to support State 

15 or local educational agency activities in support of 

16 qualified schools for which it is more efficient or ap17 propriate to support the activities in a centralized 

18 manner. 

19 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT; TERM.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 

21 provided in this paragraph, a subgrant provided 

22 by a local educational agency or State edu23 cational agency to a qualifying school under 

24 this section shall be in such amount, and shall 

25 be provided for such term, as the local eduVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:36 Jul 22, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3277.IH H3277

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1 cational agency or State educational agency, re2 spectively, determines appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(B) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of 

4 a subgrant provided by a local educational 

5 agency or State educational agency to a quali6 fying school under this subsection shall not ex7 ceed— 

8 ‘‘(i) $50,000 for a single fiscal year; 

9 or 

10 ‘‘(ii) $100,000 for all fiscal years. 

11 ‘‘(C) MAXIMUM GRANT TERM.—A local 

12 educational agency or State educational agency 

13 shall not provide subgrants to a qualifying 

14 school under this subsection for more than 5 

15 fiscal years. 

16 ‘‘(e) PREFERENCE.—In providing grants and sub17 grants under this section, the Secretary, a local edu18 cational agency, and a State educational agency shall give 

19 priority to qualifying schools— 

20 ‘‘(1) in which 75 percent or more of the stu21 dents of which are eligible for free or reduced-price 

22 school lunches under the school lunch program es23 tablished under the Richard B. Russell National 

24 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); and 

25 ‘‘(2) that demonstrate— 


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1 ‘‘(A) an intent to use the grants or sub2 grants to establish or support connections be3 tween the qualifying schools and local agricul4 tural producers and food providers; 

5 ‘‘(B) that the qualifying schools have es6 tablished, or intend to establish, a universal 

7 free breakfast program; or 

8 ‘‘(C) that the qualifying schools have con9 sidered, or intend to establish, service methods 

10 that make breakfast a part of the school day. 

11 ‘‘(f) BEST PRACTICES.—Prior to awarding grants 

12 under this section, the Secretary shall make available to 

13 State educational agencies information regarding the most 

14 effective mechanisms by which to increase school breakfast 

15 participation among eligible children at qualifying schools. 

16 ‘‘(g) APPLICATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

18 grant under this section, a local educational agency 

19 or State educational agency shall submit to the Sec20 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 

21 and containing such information as the Secretary 

22 may require. 

23 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out this 

24 section, the Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) develop an appropriate application 

2 process; and 

3 ‘‘(B) advertise the availability of funds 

4 under this section to qualified schools, local 

5 educational agencies, and State educational 

6 agencies. 

7 ‘‘(h) USE OF FUNDS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A qualifying school may 

9 use a grant provided under this section— 

10 ‘‘(A) to establish, promote, or expand a 

11 school breakfast program of the qualifying 

12 school under this section, which shall include a 

13 nutritional education component; 

14 ‘‘(B) to increase the quantity of local or 

15 fresh food available under the school breakfast 

16 program of the qualifying school under this sec17 tion; 

18 ‘‘(C) to provide nutritional education mate19 rials to students; 

20 ‘‘(D) to extend the period during which 

21 school breakfast is available at the qualifying 

22 school; 

23 ‘‘(E) to provide school breakfast to stu24 dents of the qualifying school during the school 

25 day; 


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1 ‘‘(F) to increase participation in the school 

2 breakfast program, including through a uni3 versal free breakfast program; 

4 ‘‘(G) to compensate for receipts no longer 

5 collected from reduced and paid breakfasts 

6 when operating a universal free breakfast pro7 gram; 

8 ‘‘(H) to provide to students first-hand 

9 knowledge of food systems, including through— 

10 ‘‘(i) occasional activities, such as in11 viting agricultural producers to speak at 

12 the qualifying school or offering student 

13 field trips to local agricultural projects; 

14 ‘‘(ii) integrating food system informa15 tion into the curriculum (including mathe16 matics and science classes) of the quali17 fying school; or 

18 ‘‘(iii) collaborating with nutrition ex19 perts, food banks, nonprofit organizations, 

20 and local farms to develop and integrate 

21 relevant service-learning opportunities into 

22 classroom instruction; or 

23 ‘‘(I) to collaborate with local institutions of 

24 higher education or other research entities (in25 cluding hunger advocacy entities)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to compile data and reports relat2 ing to the school breakfast program of the 

3 qualifying school; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) to submit the data and reports to 

5 the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—Each activity of a quali7 fying school under this subsection shall be carried 

8 out in accordance with applicable nutritional guide9 lines and regulations issued by the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(i) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Grants made 

11 available under this section shall not diminish or otherwise 

12 affect the expenditure of funds from State and local 

13 sources for the maintenance of the school breakfast pro14 gram. 

15 ‘‘(j) REPORTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta17 tion with local educational agencies, State edu18 cational agencies, and qualifying schools that receive 

19 grants and subgrants under this section, shall sub20 mit to Congress an annual report describing the im21 pact of the school breakfast programs of the quali22 fying schools on and classroom performance and en23 vironment. 

24 ‘‘(2) DATA COLLECTION.—The Secretary shall 

25 provide guidance and minimum standards for data 


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1 collection to grant recipients and any collaborating 

2 local institutions of higher education or research en3 tities as necessary to ensure that annual reports 

4 under this section are able to provide an adequate 

5 qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the grant 

6 impacts. 

7 ‘‘(k) EVALUATION.—Not later than 180 days before 

8 the end of a grant term under this section, a local edu9 cational agency or State educational agency that receives 

10 a grant under this section shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) evaluate whether electing to provide uni12 versal free breakfasts under the school breakfast 

13 program in accordance with provision 2 as estab14 lished under subsections (b) through (k) of section 

15 245.9 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

16 successor regulations), would be cost-effective for the 

17 qualified schools based on estimated administrative 

18 savings and economies of scale; and 

19 ‘‘(2) submit the results of the evaluation to the 

20 Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

23 such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal years 2010 

24 through 2014.’’. 

Æ 


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