[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5200 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5200
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require
mandatory certification for certain students and reduce stigma
associated with unpaid school meal fees, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 25, 2024
Ms. Smith introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require
mandatory certification for certain students and reduce stigma
associated with unpaid school meal fees, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``No Shame at School Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. UNPAID MEAL DEBT.
(a) Mandatory Certification.--Section 9(b)(5) of the Richard B.
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(5)) is amended--
(1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ``Discretionary''
and inserting ``Mandatory''; and
(2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking
``any local educational agency may'' and inserting ``a local
educational agency shall''.
(b) Retroactive Reimbursement.--Section 9(b)(9)(C) of the Richard
B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(9)(C)) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I)
and (II), respectively;
(2) in the matter preceding subclause (I) (as so
redesignated), by striking ``Except'' and inserting the
following:
``(i) In general.--Except''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) Retroactivity.--
``(I) In general.--A local
educational agency shall revise a
previously submitted meal claim to
reflect the eligibility approval of a
child for free or reduced price meals
for the period that begins on the first
day of the current school year.
``(II) Definition of meal claim.--
In this clause, the term `meal claim'
means any documentation provided by a
school food authority to a State agency
to receive reimbursement for the cost
of a meal served to a child by that
school food authority.''.
(c) Reducing Stigma Associated With Unpaid School Meal Fees.--
Section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42
U.S.C. 1758(b)) is amended by striking paragraph (10) and inserting the
following:
``(10) Reducing stigma associated with unpaid school meal
fees.--
``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
``(i) Covered child.--The term `covered
child' means a child who--
``(I) is--
``(aa) enrolled in a school
that participates in the school
lunch program under this Act or
the school breakfast program
under section 4 of the Child
Nutrition Act of 1966 (42
U.S.C. 1773); and
``(bb) is a member of a
household that owes unpaid
school meal fees; or
``(II) is eligible for a free or
reduced price lunch under this section.
``(ii) Unpaid school meal fees.--The term
`unpaid school meal fees' means outstanding
fees owed by a household to a local educational
agency for lunch provided under the school
lunch program under this Act or breakfast
provided under the school breakfast program
under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of
1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).
``(B) Overt identification prohibited.--A local
educational agency or school food authority may not,
based on the status of a covered child as a covered
child--
``(i) physically segregate the covered
child;
``(ii) overtly identify the covered child--
``(I) through the use of special
tokens or tickets; or
``(II) by an announcement or a
published list of names; or
``(iii) identify or stigmatize the covered
child by any other means.
``(C) Eligibility determination by local
educational agency.--For any covered child who is a
member of a household that owes 1 week or more of
unpaid school meal fees, a local educational agency
shall--
``(i) attempt to directly certify that
covered child for free meals under paragraph
(4) or (5); or
``(ii) if a local educational agency is not
able to directly certify that covered child
under paragraph (4) or (5), provide to the
household of the covered child--
``(I) a household application for
free meals and applicable descriptive
material; and
``(II) written and oral
communications to encourage submission
of that application.
``(D) Collection of unpaid school meal fees.--In
attempting to collect unpaid school meal fees from a
household, a local educational agency or school food
authority may not--
``(i) except as described in subparagraph
(E), direct any communication regarding unpaid
school meal fees to a covered child who is a
member of that household;
``(ii) withhold educational opportunities
(including grades and participation in
extracurricular activities or local educational
agency programs or services) from, or otherwise
stigmatize, a covered child who is a member of
that household; or
``(iii) use a debt collector (as defined in
section 803 of the Consumer Credit Protection
Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a)).
``(E) Letters.--A school food authority may require
that a covered child deliver a sealed letter addressed
to a parent or guardian of the covered child that
contains a communication relating to unpaid school meal
fees, subject to the condition that the letter shall
not be distributed to the covered child in a manner
that stigmatizes the covered child.
``(F) Eliminating stigma in meal service.--In
providing a meal to a covered child, a local
educational agency or school food authority may not,
based on the status of the covered child as a covered
child, dispose of or take away from the covered child
any food that has already been served to the covered
child.''.
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