Ending School Meal Shame: Mandatory Free Meal Certification and Debt Rules.
This law mandates that schools actively help students qualify for free meals if their families have outstanding meal debt, ensuring no child is stigmatized due to unpaid fees. Key changes include prohibiting schools from publicly identifying, segregating, or taking away food from children with debt, and banning the use of debt collectors. Furthermore, eligibility for free meals must be applied retroactively to the start of the school year.
Key points
Schools are prohibited from publicly shaming or segregating students over unpaid meal fees (e.g., using special tokens, announcements, or taking away served food).
If a household owes one week or more of fees, the school must actively attempt to automatically certify the child for free meals or provide the necessary application materials.
Schools cannot use debt collectors to recover meal fees or withhold educational opportunities (like grades or extracurriculars) due to outstanding debt.
Eligibility for free or reduced-price meals must be applied retroactively to the first day of the current school year, potentially resulting in refunds for families.
Expired
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