No. HB 1501
Filed under Education.
K-12 School Lunches and Breakfasts; Requires K-12 public schools to participate in National School Lunch Program & School Breakfast Program; provides requirements for provision of school lunches & breakfasts at such schools; authorizes school districts to collect payment for specified meals; prohibits school districts from using third-party debt collectors; provides for reimbursement of school breakfasts by DACS; provides calculation for such reimbursement.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDEvery public school must now serve free breakfasts to all students, unless a parent explicitly opts out in writing. This removes the previous option for schools to charge for breakfast.
Schools must continue serving lunches to students who cannot pay or owe money. However, districts are strictly forbidden from hiring third-party debt collectors to recover these meal debts.
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will reimburse districts for every free breakfast served, capped at one per student per day. This reimbursement covers the gap between federal and state funding rates.
Districts retain the authority to collect payment for lunches provided, but must do so directly without outsourcing the collection process to external debt collection agencies.
AIEvery public school must join the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs.
AISchools must serve lunch to all students, even those with unpaid meal balances.
AISchool districts are prohibited from hiring outside debt collectors for unpaid meal fees.
AIBreakfast is free unless a parent submits written notice to withhold it.
AIThe state reimburses districts for free breakfasts, capped at one per student per day.