Calif. poised to ban lunch shaming

If a bill passed by the California Senate on Thursday is signed into law, the state will become the latest in the nation to enact a ban on so-called lunch shaming.

The California bill, introduced earlier this year, would disallow K-12 schools from denying lunch to indebted students and mandate that guardians be informed no more than 10 days after a student accrues meal debt. The legislation now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown, according to the Associated Press.

Lunch shaming has been a contentious topic in recent months after instances of students being denied meals went viral in the media, and schools have been put on the defensive. As of July, school districts are now required by the USDA to have a written policy about how they will handle meal debt, one that must be communicated to students’ families and relevant stakeholders. 

New Mexico became the first state to ban lunch shaming in April, though a number of states have been considering similar measures.

Read more via the Associated Press.