Thriving Community Gardens Act
The Thriving Community Gardens Act would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to explicitly authorize the use of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (SSAE Grants) for developing and maintaining school and community gardens. The bill places gardens within the set of activities intended to support a healthy, active lifestyle for students, alongside nutritional education and regular physical education. It also allows for chronic disease management instruction delivered by school health professionals. Beyond funding flexibility, the act requires the Department of Education to gather data from local educational agencies that use SSAE funds for gardens, identify best practices, and publish those practices on a public Department website with updates as new information becomes available. In short, if enacted, the bill would formalize garden programs as an allowable use of SSAE Grant funds, promote health and nutrition education in schools, and create a centralized process for collecting, sharing, and updating best practices for school and community gardens.
Key Points
- 1Authorizes the use of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to develop and maintain school and community gardens.
- 2Adds development and maintenance of gardens to the set of activities that support a healthy, active lifestyle, alongside nutritional education and regular physical education.
- 3Allows chronic disease management instruction, led by school nurses, nurse practitioners, or other qualified health professionals, as part of the healthy-student activities connected to garden programs.
- 4Requires the Secretary of Education to collect information from local educational agencies using SSAE funds for gardens and to identify best practices based on that information.
- 5Stipulates that the best practices be published on a publicly accessible Department of Education website and regularly updated as new information is received.