No Shame at School Act of 2022

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. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the No Shame at School Act of 2022 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) (1) in the heading, by striking Discretionary Mandatory (2) by striking any local a local (3) by striking may 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) (1) by striking Except (i) In general Except ; (2) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) and (II); and (3) by adding at the end the following: (ii) Retroactivity 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. (iii) Meal claim defined In this subsection, the term meal claim . (c) Reducing stigma associated with unpaid school meal fees Section 9(b)(10) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(10) (10) Reducing stigma associated with unpaid school meal fees (A) 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 such covered child; (ii) overtly identify such 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 such covered child by any other means. (B) Eligibility determination by local educational agency For any covered child who is a member of a household that owes a week or more of unpaid school meal fees, a local educational agency shall— (i) attempt to directly certify such covered child for free meals under paragraph (4) or (5); or (ii) in a case where the local educational agency is not able to directly certify such covered child under paragraph (4) or (5), provide to the household of such covered child— (I) a household application and applicable descriptive material; and (II) written and oral communications to encourage submission of the application. (C) 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 (D), direct any communication regarding unpaid school meal fees to a covered child who is a member of such 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 due to the status of the covered child as a covered child; or (iii) use a debt collector (as such term is defined in section 803 of the Consumer Credit Protection Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1692a (D) 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. (E) 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 such covered child. (F) Definitions In this paragraph: (i) Covered child The term covered child (I) is 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 (II) is a member of a household that owes unpaid school meal fees. (ii) Unpaid school meal fees The term unpaid school meal fees 42 U.S.C. 1773 .

Summary: No Shame at School Act of 2022 This bill establishes requirements for the treatment of a child who is participating in the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program and owes unpaid school meal fees. It also requires local educational agencies to certify certain children (e.g., homeless children) as categorically eligible for free lunches or breakfasts without an application.