Lawmakers reintroduce No Shame at School Act

Lawmakers have reintroduced the No Shame at School Act, which seeks to outlaw lunch shaming nationwide.

Under the bill, schools would not be allowed to publicly identify or shame students who are behind on meal payments. Schools would also not be allowed to hire debt collectors to recover meal debt.

If a student is behind on meal payments, the district would need to try to directly certify the student for free or reduced-price meals. Schools would be retroactively reimbursed for meals given to students that later qualify for free or reduced.

The recently introduced Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act also aims to put a stop to lunch shaming.