2614

LAWS OF MARYLAND

Ch. 921

Schools shall determine the amount of State [funds that
will be] MONEYS required to provide a program of
subsidized and/or free feeding programs in accordance
with the standards promulgated under subsection (a)
herein. Such amount as shall be included for this
purpose in the annual State budget, including any federal
funds, and as submitted to and appropriated by the
General Assembly, shall be distributed to the county
boards of education and the board of school commissioners
of the City of Baltimore in accordance with the provision
of § 127 of this article.

(C) FUNDS APPROPRIATED FOR THE SUBSIDIZED AND/OR
FREE FEEDING PROGRAM SHALL BE UTILIZED TO REIMBURSE THE
COUNTY BOARDS OF EDUCATION AND THE BOARD OF SCHOOL
COMMISSIONERS OF BALTIMORE CITY FOR THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN COSTS AND ALL AVAILABLE REIMBURSEMENTS AND OTHER
FUNDS, INCLUDING THE AMOUNTS PAID BY CHILDREN.

[(c)] (D) In the enactment of this requirement for
a program of subsidized and/or free feeding programs for
the benefit of children in the public schools, the
General Assembly makes this statement of public policy:
The Maryland Commission on Childhood Nutrition has
estimated that 90,000 school children in this State need
a free or reduced price school lunch. This need is
acute for the welfare of the children and to assure their
satisfactory progress in school studies. Children of
school age, and particularly those in elementary grades,
risk permanent physical and mental damage if they suffer
from malnutrition. It is vital to the health and
progress of the child and a necessity in assuring a
healthful and educated younger generation that this
program be initiated and steadfastly continued. Only by
such a program may the General Assembly make certain that
at least once each day all its developing children
achieve a basic, balanced, and nutritional meal.

[(d)] (E) The General Assembly further states
these desirable policies in the administration and
application of the school feeding programs herein
provided:

(1)    Private organizations and corporations
should be encouraged to participate in the program.

(2)    The identity of children participating
in free or subsidized feeding programs should remain
anonymous, and positive procedures should be adopted to
this end.

(3)    Applications to participants in the
program should be brief and simple, based upon a

statement of present income AND FAMILY SIZE or of

participation in a social services or welfare program.

(4)    There shall be no discrimination among
these programs for elementary, junior high, and high