SCHOOL CAFETERIA WORKERS

FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1968

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE No. 5 OF THE

COMMITTEE ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:00 o'clock a.m., in Room 1320 Longworth House Office Building, Hon. B. F. Sisk, chairman of the subcommittee, presiding.

Present: Representatives Sisk, Whitener, Walker, Horton, Gude, and Zwach.

Also present: James T. Clark, Clerk; Hayden S. Garber, Counsel; Donald Tubridy, Minority Clerk; and Leonard O. Hilder, Investigator.

Mr. SISK. Subcommittee No. 5 will come to order.

The committee has before it this morning S. 2012, a bill to amend the District of Columbia Public School Food Services Act. Without objection, a copy of the bill, S. 2012, together with the Senate Report (S. Rept. 585) thereon, will be made a part of the record.

(1)

(S. 2012 and S. Rept. 585 follow :)

S. 2012, 90th Cong., 1st sess., by Mr. Bible (by request) on June 26, 1967

AN ACT

To amend the District of Columbia Public School Food

Services Act.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa

2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

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4

That the last sentence of section 5 of the District of Colum

bia Public School Food Services Act (65 Stat. 369; sec.

5 31-1404, D.C. Code, 1961 edition), is amended by striking

6

7

the comma following "motor trucks" and inserting in lieu

thereof a period, and by striking the remainder of such 8 sentence.

9

SEC. 2. The first sentence of section 6 of such Act, as 10 amended (sec. 31-1405, D.C. Code, 1961 edition) is

11 amended to read as follows: "Appropriations are authorized

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2

1 for all necessary expenses of the Office of Central Manage2 ment, Department of Food Services, in the public schools of 3 the District of Columbia, including the payment of com4 pensation for personal services and Government contribu5 tions to related insurance costs; for the acquisition, mainte6 nance; and replacement of equipment used or acquired for 7 use in the conduct of the Department of Food Services in 8 the public schools of the District of Columbia, and for reim9 bursement of the District of Columbia public school food 10 services fund for lunches served in accordance with section 11 9 of the National School Lunch Act (60 Stat. 233, title 42, 12 sec. 1758, U.S.C., 1958 edition), to children without cost 13 to such children or at reduced cost."

Passed the Senate October 10, 1967.

Attest:

FRANCIS R. VALEO,

Secretary.

AMENDING THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOL FOOD SERVICES ACT

OCTOBER 6, 1967.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. MORSE, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 2012]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to which was referred the bill (S. 2012) to amend the District of Columbia Public School Food Services Act, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purposes of this bill, S. 2012, are (1) to authorize appropriations of public funds to pay salaries and related costs of operating the Office of Central Management of the Food Services Department in the public schools and (2) to provide for appropriation of public money to pay for lunches furnished to all needy elementary and secondary public school children whose parents are not recipients of public welfare.

Under existing law (65 Stat. 369) the expenses, salaries, and related costs of conducting the Office of Central Management of the Department of Food Services of the public schools in the District of Columbia are paid from the food services fund. This fund is a revolving account into which all revenues from the operation of food services in the public schools are placed. These receipts are used for the "purchase of foods, supplies, and all other services and expenditures of whatever nature which are necessary for the conduct of the Department of Food Services, including personal services, the operation and maintenance of motor trucks, and the expenses of conducting the Office of Central Management." [Emphasis supplied.]

2

AMEND THE D.C. PUBLIC SCHOOL FOOD SERVICES ACT

In reporting on the bill, the Board of Commissioners made the following statement concerning the need for striking the above italicized language from the existing law:

Experience has shown that these costs cannot continue to be borne by the school lunch program (salaries and related insurance costs of employees of the Office of Central Management) without this assistance. The Superintendent of Schools reports that conferences with officials of the Department of Agriculture and with food services directors of other cities and States tend to the conclusion that such costs should not be borne by the students any more than the other costs of administering the school system. The Superintendent points out that the staff of the Office of Central Management of the Food Services Department serves in a dual capacity of State and city administration for three Federal programs; namely, the national school lunch program, the special milk program, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture donated-commodity program for District of Columbia schools and institutions. The Superintendent further notes that comparable functions in the States are administered by State officials of education, and administrative staff salaries are paid from State appropriated funds, whereas the District of Columbia school lunch program is forced to bear this

expense.

In the District of Columbia public schools elementary needy lunch program, authorized by Public Law 86-104, all students certified as needy by the school principal, whether or not their families are receiving public assistance, have their lunches paid for from public funds. In the secondary school program there is a distinction made between lunches served to needy pupils whose families receive public assistance and lunches served to needy pupils whose families do not receive public assistance.

Public Law 85-901, enacted by the 85th Congress, provides authorization for reimbursement to be made to the secondary schools only in cases where free lunches are served to children of families who are recipients of public assistance granted by the government of the District of Columbia.

There are three factors which cause financial crises in school lunch programs. One is a decrease in value in the type of U.S. Department of Agriculture donated commodities. The value of these commodities has decreased since 1962 from approximately 5%1⁄2 cents per meal to approximately 2 cents per meal. Food costs went up in 1966 about 4 percent. The cash subsidy from the Agriculture Department has diminished since 1962 from an average of 9 cents per meal to approximately 5 cents per meal. The need and desire to bring services up to a decent level has also increased costs.

The committee is advised that the expenses of the Department of Food Services have been exceeding its revenues for some time. The excess of costs over receipts in school year 1966-67 was $50,000, and $59,000 the previous year. Thus far, these losses have been absorbed by diminishing revenues in the public school food services fund built up in earlier years.

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