September 30, 2025
Ms. Smith introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
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 2025
.
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.