(a) A school district, charter school, or county office of education may apply to the Superintendent for funding for a three-year grant under this article in a manner determined by the Superintendent, in order to develop and maintain an instructional school garden. The application, at a minimum, shall indicate the school or schools at which the instructional school gardens are, or are to be, located; the grade level or grade levels to be targeted; the potential number of classes within the grade levels and number of pupils who would use the instructional school gardens; and the intended items of expenditure for any funds received. The application also shall include an explanation of the six-month reporting requirement specified in Section 51796.5.

(b) The Superintendent shall distribute the grants applied for pursuant to subdivision (a) to school districts, charter schools, or county offices of education as follows:

(1) Each grant shall be not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per schoolsite, except that a district, charter school, or county office of education that applies on behalf of at least one schoolsite with an enrollment of 1,000 or more pupils may receive a grant of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) per schoolsite with an enrollment of 1,000 or more pupils.

(2) The receipt of a grant during the period from the 2006–07 fiscal year to the 2008–09 fiscal year, inclusive, for instructional school garden equipment or supplies by a school district, charter school, or county office of education shall not be dependent on the receipt of a grant for instructional school garden professional development by the same district, charter school, or county office.

(Added by Stats. 2006, Ch. 437, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2007.)