Despite 2023 Law, School Lunch Debt Shaming Appears To Continue
TV News reports of students doing fundraisers to pay off classmates school lunch debt is a form of shaming.
In 2023, the North Dakota Watchdog Network took the position of supporting the effort to cover the cost of school lunches for all K-12 under the premise that it was a direct tax reduction for all parents, and that because school is legally mandatory, being in a condition to actually learn should also be mandatory.
That bill failed failed, even after an attempted reconsideration a day later.
What did pass was a bill that outlawed “shaming” students whose parents can’t afford to pay for their school lunches.
The bipartisan bill sponsored by Rep. Zac Ista, D-Grand Forks, prohibits K-12 schools from denying meals provided through federal breakfast and lunch programs to students with unpaid meal balances.
The legislation also forbids schools from:
Publicly identifying students who fail to pay meal debt or who receive free or reduced-price lunches.
Blocking students’ participation in school activities, field trips, sports or graduation ceremonies due to unpaid meal balances.
Requiring students t…
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