SECTIONS 9000-9004 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 9000-9004

9000. The Legislature intends to expand the number of educational
gardens and garden salad bars in California public schools by
offering startup or expansion grants, implementing garden-enhanced
nutrition education, and training and resources to the grantees. For
those purposes, the school gardens program is hereby established.

9001. The State Department of Education shall establish, develop,
and implement the instructional school garden program to make
competitive grants available for school districts and county offices
of education. Schools may incorporate one of the following into the
nutrition education program proposal:
(a) An instructional school garden if a garden does not already
exist on the site.
(b) A school garden salad bar with a compost program if an
instructional garden already exists onsite.
(c) An instructional school garden if an instructional garden does
not already exist on the schoolsite and a school garden salad bar
with a compost program.

9002. The State Department of Education shall distribute the grants
pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), in consultation with education,
nutrition, and agricultural experts, at the applicant's election, as
follows:
(a) A maximum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) to each school that
establishes instructional school gardens and an additional five
hundred dollars ($500) as a workshop travel stipend to each school
district that receives a grant.
(b) A maximum of two thousand dollars ($2,000), available on a
competitive basis as determined by the State Department of Education,
to each school that has an existing instructional garden onsite, and
that would offer a garden salad in the school lunch program with
these funds.

9003. The State Department of Education shall develop, research,
and coordinate the best available practices regarding appropriate
curriculum for school garden programs in kindergarten and grades 1 to
12, inclusive, in consultation with education, nutrition, and
agricultural experts. The department shall make the curriculum
available to the schools that receive a grant pursuant to this
article.

9004. The State Department of Education shall select grant
recipients from the northern, southern, and central regions of the
state and from urban, rural, and suburban areas, so that the
recipients are broadly representatives of the state.