COLOMBIA – Legislation to ensure that poor students are not ashamed of receiving a different lunch at school has advanced unanimously in the South Carolina House.
The bill sent to the House on March 16 would prevent schools from treating students who do not pay differently.
Some schools offer an alternative meal, such as a peanut butter sandwich and an apple, after the student has not paid for a week or two. At least one school district has handed over school lunch debts to a collection agency, said Rep. Raye Felder, R-Fort Mill.
But the reason for the debt is usually because the child’s parents have not completed the paperwork that allows the student to eat for free – or almost free, depending on the level of poverty – and allows the school to be reimbursed by the federal government. Requiring the same meal independently should encourage schools to work with parents to complete these forms, said Felder, chairman of the K-12 subcommittee in the House.
Representative Gil Gatch, R-Summerville, said that the resulting shame is what “touched him”.
“Everyone knows that this lunch means something because I am poor,” he said of the alternative meal. “We are leveling the playing field between who can afford it and who cannot, so that children do not feel horribly ashamed.”
The measure also prevents schools from punishing students with lunch debts by not allowing them to participate in field trips, graduation ceremonies or other activities.
Representative Mark Smith, R-Charleston, said he worries some parents who can and should be paying and will decide not to do so, resulting in a burden for the district.
The former president of the Low Country Food Bank emphasized that he is fully aware that students cannot pay attention and learn when their stomachs are empty and no child should be left without eating, but “I just want to make sure that we are holding financially responsible people when they are able to pay. “
In response, Felder said it is possible that some astute students could pocket the money instead of paying for lunch. But if they do, “the districts will be creative in letting Mom know that little Johnny hasn’t handed over the money this week, but in the meantime, little Johnny can eat,” she said.
The bill applies to the service of food schools that are refundable by the federal government, not to the food or drinks that some schools offer for sale separately. The measure specifies that students cannot accumulate debts for these items, which must instead be purchased in cash or by withdrawing a prepaid balance.
If the bill becomes law, it will probably be up to the Senate. It is almost certain that it will pass the House again, as it did last year in a unanimous vote, before the pandemic abbreviated the regular session.
follow Seanna Adcox on Twitter at @seannaadcox_pc.