Background: As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Washington received a one-time appropriation of approximately $1.59 million for equipment assistance grants to be distributed competitively to local education agencies (LEAs) that sponsored a National School Lunch Program. The National School Lunch Program, established under the National School Lunch Act in 1946, is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions to provide nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to school children. Under the equipment assistance grant program, priority was given to LEAs requesting equipment for schools in which at least 50 percent of the students were eligible for free or reduced-priced meals. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) received grant requests from LEAs totaling $11.6 million.

The Common School Construction Account (CSCA) was established by a constitutional amendment approved by the voters in 1966 for the purpose of financing the construction of facilities for common schools. The primary revenue source to the CSCA is from common school trust land managed by the Department of Natural Resources.

Summary of Bill: The Apple a Day program, an equipment assistance grant program, is established to enhance student nutrition in public schools. Equipment is defined as articles of nonexpendable, tangible personal property with a useful life of at least 13 years and a per-unit cost of $1,000 and may include the purchase of new equipment, renovation of existing equipment, or replacement equipment. Minor capital improvements required to accommodate the installation of equipment may also be eligible for state assistance.

OSPI must establish a competitive process to solicit applications for state assistance and must evaluate and rank applications in consultation with an advisory committee of at least three members of selected organizations concerned with child nutrition, including one Washington School Nutrition Association representative and one representative from east of the crest of the Cascade mountains, using objective criteria. Public school districts and public schools participating in the National School Breakfast Program or the National School Lunch Program are eligible to apply.

OSPI must require applicants to demonstrate, at a minimum, the following:

Use of the proposed equipment will enhance nutrition and improve student access to healthier foods. Applicants must submit current school menus and proposed menus using the requested equipment.
Healthy eating and physical activity are actively promoted to students, parents, teachers, and the community.

In evaluating and ranking applications, OSPI must give funding priority to the following:

public schools in which at least 50 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced-priced meals;
project applications in which equipment purchases will affect menu changes throughout an entire grade group or school district;
project applications that provide a dollar-for-dollar match from non-state sources;
public schools that can demonstrate nutrition is integrated into core curriculum areas such as math, science, language arts, and physical education, and serving healthy Washington-grown food is incorporated into the schools wellness policy; and
public schools that are engaged in farm-to-school efforts and support Washington farmers by purchasing Washington grown food when available.

In consultation with the advisory committee, OSPI must develop and track specific, quantifiable outcome measures of the grant program. A preliminary report on the outcome measures must be submitted to the Legislature by January 1, 2015, and a final report on program outcomes by January 1, 2016.

If specific capital budget funding for this legislation is not provided by June 30, 2014, this act is null and void.