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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5200 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

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.''.
                                 <all>
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