2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 18A - Education › Section 18A:33-27.2 - Provision of school meals during period of school closure.

18A:33-27.2 Provision of school meals during period of school closure.
1. a. In the event that a board of education is provided a written directive, by either the New Jersey Department of Health or the health officer of the jurisdiction, to institute a public health-related closure due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the district shall implement a program, during the period of the school closure, to provide school meals, at meal distribution sites designated pursuant to subsection b. of this section, to all students enrolled in the district who are either categorically eligible or income-eligible for free or reduced price school meals.
b. In the event of an emergency closure, as described in subsection a. of this section, the school district shall identify one or more school meal distribution sites that are walkable and easily accessible to students in the district. The school district shall collaborate with county and municipal government officials in identifying appropriate sites. A school meals distribution site may include, but need not be limited to: faith-based locations; community centers, such as YMCAs; and locations in the school district where meals are made available through a summer meals program. In a school district that includes high density housing, the district shall make every effort to identify a school meal distribution site in that housing area.
c. A school district shall identify students enrolled in the district who are categorically eligible or income-eligible for free or reduced price meals, and for whom a school meal distribution site, identified pursuant to subsection b. of this section, is not within walking distance. In the case of these students, the school district shall distribute the school meals to the student's residence or to the student's bus stop along an established bus route, provided that the student or the student's parent or guardian is present at the bus stop for the distribution. Food distributed pursuant to this subsection may include up to a total of three school days' worth of food per delivery.
d. A school district may use school buses owned and operated by the district to distribute school meals pursuant to this section. In the case of a school district that does not own and operate its own buses, the district may contract for the distribution of school meals, and these contracts shall not be subject to the public bidding requirements established pursuant to the "Public School Contracts Law," P.L.1977, c.114 (C.18A:18A-1 et seq.).
e. A school district shall collaborate, as feasible, with other school districts and with local government units to implement the emergency meals distribution program, as required by this section, in order to promote administrative and operational efficiencies and cost savings.
f. School lunches and breakfasts that are made available, through an emergency meals distribution program operating pursuant to this section, shall be provided to eligible students, free of charge, in accordance with the provisions of subsection a. of section 1 of P.L.1974, c.53 (C.18A:33-4) and subsection a. of section 12 of P.L.2022, c.104 (C.18A:33-14a).
L.2020, c.6, s.1; amended 2022, c.104, s.20.