I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3366 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to prohibit 
the stigmatization of children who are unable to pay for school meals, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 19, 2019 
Ms. OMAR (for herself, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. SCHA-
KOWSKY, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. KILMER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, 
Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. POCAN, Ms. WILD, Mr. 
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. HASTINGS, 
Mr. COHEN, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. 
LUJA´N, and Ms. JOHNSON of Texas) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act to prohibit the stigmatization of children who are 
unable to pay for school meals, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. MANDATORY CERTIFICATION. 
Section 9(b)(5) of the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(5)) is amended 
by— 
(1) striking ‘‘Discretionary’’ and inserting 
‘‘Mandatory’’; and 
(2) striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 
SEC. 3. 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 amend-
ed— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Except’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except’’; 
(2) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as sub-
clauses (I) and (II); and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(ii) RETROACTIVITY.—A local edu-
cational agency shall revise a previously 
submitted meal claim to reflect the eligi-
bility approval of a child for free or re-
duced price meals for the period that be-
gins on the earlier of the following: 
‘‘(I) The first day of the current 
school year. 
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‘‘(II) The date that is 90 days 
prior to the date of such eligibility ap-
proval. 
‘‘(iii) MEAL CLAIM DEFINED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘meal claim’ means 
any documentation provided by a school 
food authority to a State agency in order 
to receive reimbursement for the cost of a 
meal served to a child by such school food 
authority.’’. 
SEC. 4. 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)) is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(10) REDUCING
STIGMA
ASSOCIATED
WITH 
UNPAID SCHOOL MEAL FEES.— 
‘‘(A) OVERT
IDENTIFICATION
PROHIB-
ITED.—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— 
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‘‘(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 cov-
ered child by any other means. 
‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY
DETERMINATION
BY 
LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—For any cov-
ered 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 para-
graph (4) or (5); or 
‘‘(ii) in a case where the local edu-
cational agency is not able to directly cer-
tify 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 commu-
nications to encourage submission of 
the application. 
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‘‘(C) COLLECTION
OF
UNPAID
SCHOOL 
MEAL FEES.—In attempting to collect unpaid 
school meal fees from a household, a local edu-
cational agency or school food authority may 
not— 
‘‘(i) except as described in subpara-
graph (D), direct any communication re-
garding unpaid school meal fees to a cov-
ered child who is a member of such house-
hold; 
‘‘(ii) withhold educational opportuni-
ties from, or otherwise stigmatize, a cov-
ered 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 Con-
sumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 
1692a)). 
‘‘(D) LETTERS.—A school food authority 
may permit a requirement that a covered child 
deliver a letter addressed to a parent or guard-
ian of the covered child that contains a commu-
nication relating to unpaid school meal fees, 
subject to the condition that the letter shall not 
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be distributed to the covered child in a manner 
that stigmatizes the covered child. 
‘‘(E) ELIMINATING STIGMA IN MEAL SERV-
ICE.—In providing a meal to a covered child, a 
local educational agency or school food author-
ity 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 al-
ready been served to such covered child. 
‘‘(F) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) COVERED
CHILD.—The term 
‘covered child’ means a child who— 
‘‘(I) is enrolled in a school that 
participates in the school lunch pro-
gram under this Act or the school 
breakfast program under section 4 of 
the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 
U.S.C. 1773); and 
‘‘(II) is a member of a household 
that owes unpaid school meal fees. 
‘‘(ii) UNPAID SCHOOL MEAL FEES.— 
The term ‘unpaid school meal fees’ means 
outstanding fees owed by a household to a 
local educational agency for lunches under 
this Act or breakfasts under section 4 of 
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the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 
U.S.C. 1773).’’. 
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Agri-
culture should ensure that to the maximum extent prac-
ticable, a school food authority that participates in the 
school lunch program under the Richard B. Russell Na-
tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) or the 
school breakfast program under section 4 of the Child Nu-
trition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773), shall provide to a 
child who requests a lunch or breakfast the same reim-
bursable lunch or breakfast provided to all students not 
certified to receive free school lunch or breakfast, regard-
less of ability to pay for the lunch or breakfast. 
Æ 
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