New bill would change rules for “breakfast after the bell”

A bill introduced in the House Tuesday would change existing law governing the “breakfast after the bell” program and likely affect its expansion.

Passed by the 2013 legislature, the law requires that certain schools provide breakfast after the school day starts. The theory behind the law was that students do better in class if they’re not hungry, that some students skip breakfast if it’s offered before school, and that students will be more likely to eat if all others are eating, not just the “poor” kids.

School district lobbyists doggedly fought the bill, arguing that it unnecessarily restricted district flexibility in providing the morning meal and could in some cases impose costs on districts. As finally passed, the law applied to schools with 80 percent or more students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch. The law lowers that threshold to 70 percent starting in the 2015-16 school year.

House Bill 15-1080 would cancel the switch to 70 percent and keep the threshold for the program at 80 percent low income students. The prime sponsors are Rep. Janak Joshi and Sen. Owen Hill, both Colorado Springs Republicans. If the bill survives in the House it may have legs, given that Republicans control the Senate and Hill is chair of the Senate Education Committee.

See this 2014 Chalkbeat Colorado story for details on how districts prepared for the breakfast after the bell requirement.

Two other education-related bill were introduced Tuesday. They are:

House Bill 15-1079 – Removes current restrictions on spending of general fund money on certain teen pregnancy and dropout prevention programs, and extends the repeal date of those programs from 2016 to 2020. Prime sponsors: Reps. Don Corum, R-Montrose and Jesse Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge; Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango

House Bill 15-1081 – Permits “a person” to restrict access to a sex-segregated locker room based on an individual’s actual, biological sex. The backstory here is conservative concern about which locker rooms transgender people can use. The measure has been assigned to House State Affairs, commonly known as the “kill committee.” Democrats have the House majority. Prime sponsor: Rep. Kim Ransom, R-Douglas County, with 10 House Republican cosponsors; no Senate sponsor

Use the Education Bill Tracker for links to bill texts, sponsor information, fiscal notes and much more detail about every 2015 education bill.