Current law specifies an annual appropriation for the child
nutrition school lunch protection program (program) to provide lunches at no charge to children in state-subsidized early childhood education programs administered by public schools or in kindergarten through fifth grade who would otherwise have to pay for a reduced-price lunch. Current law also authorizes an annual appropriation to provide lunches at
no charge to students in sixth through eighth grades in schools that elect to participate in the expanded program.
The bill requires the general assembly to make an appropriation for
the program but removes the specified amounts, clarifies that all students in sixth through eighth grade participating in the federal reduced price school lunch program are eligible for the program, and extends the grades of eligibility for the program to students through the twelfth grade.
