(a) (1) The State Board of Education shall annually determine the amount of state funds needed to provide a state-wide school lunch program. The state board shall, by regulation, provide for certifying and classifying school lunch supervisors and managers and establish training programs for school lunch personnel. The state board is authorized to provide for the payment of:

(A) Operating costs of school lunchrooms, including breakfast costs, as financed by federal funds, for those students eligible under federal guidelines;

(B) State supplements to the salaries paid such personnel by local units of administration; and

(C) State incentive pay for satisfactory completion of such training programs.

(2) An application of local five mill share funds pursuant to Code Section 20-2-164 shall not be made for payments to local units of administration under this Code section. Any state funds appropriated for this purpose shall be used to supplement federal funds as a means of keeping sale prices within reach of paying students and of maximizing participation and quality meals for all students.

(b) The State Board of Education is authorized to prescribe by appropriate rules and regulations that there may be included as part of the program of every public school in this state a course of instruction in nutrition, hygiene, etiquette, and the social graces relating to the partaking of meals and is further authorized to allot funds, in a manner consistent with the funding for the other various components of the instructional program, to local units of administration for costs directly associated with this program. There may be utilized in the course of instruction the full resources available to each individual school, including its cafeterias, school lunch personnel, and all practical demonstrations in the preparation and consumption of food which may be necessary to formulate a comprehensive course of instruction in such subject matter. Any period of the school day may be utilized for the teaching of this course of instruction, including that period usually reserved for the lunch period.

(c)

(1) The State Board of Education shall establish a system of allotments of funds to local units of administration to provide for services rendered on a ten-month basis by school food and nutrition personnel. The amount of funds paid to any local unit of administration shall be paid in 12 monthly payments and shall be based upon the number of full-time equivalent school lunch positions needed to plan, prepare, and serve meals in that local unit of administration, multiplied by an annual base payment. For each school food manager, the local unit of administration shall earn the base payment as well as an amount not to exceed $100.00 per month.

(2) The base payment shall be calculated on the basis of 1,520 hours in an annual school year for a full-time equivalent school lunch position, multiplied by an amount not less than $161.00 per month for 12 months. Future annual increases in the base payment shall reflect the same percentage increase provided by the state for other state funded positions. The state board shall annually establish a state performance standard and shall determine the number of full-time equivalent school lunch positions needed to plan, prepare, and serve meals based on the state performance standard and the average daily number of student lunches served during the preceding school year.

(3) Each local unit of administration shall establish a staffing pattern and determine the number of personnel to employ. Local units of administration shall establish the salary schedule for school food and nutrition personnel and shall use the base payments in financing the locally established salary schedule.