Purpose

• The bill aims to update education funding with a focus on school safety and local school funding, and it changes who can receive state-paid free school meals by setting a new income limit. It also adds requirements related to how school meals are managed and charged, and it updates related statutes to reflect these changes.

Main provisions

• School meals policy requirement
  • Each participant in the National School Lunch Program must adopt and post a written school meals policy on their website or the provider’s website.
  • The policy must clearly explain meal charges when payment cannot be collected at the point of service, and it must protect students from lunch shaming or ostracism.
• Debt and collections rules
  • The policy must address whether a collections agency is used to collect unpaid meal debt.
  • Once a meal has been served, it cannot be withdrawn from the student by the cashier or staff, even if there is an outstanding balance.
  • Students eligible for free or reduced-price meals must always be served a reimbursable meal, even if they owe debt.
• Third-party meal service providers
  • If a school uses a third-party meal vendor, the policy must be provided to the vendor, and any contract entered into or modified after July 1, 2021 must require the vendor to follow the school’s meals policy.
• Eligibility and definitions
  • The bill defines key terms used to determine meal eligibility and pricing, including:
  • application for educational benefits
  • enhanced student eligibility standard (income between 185% and 500% of federal poverty guidelines)
  • enhanced student meal (a meal served to a student meeting the enhanced standard)
  • federal poverty guidelines (as published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
  • free meal, reduced-price meal, and full paid meal
  • direct certification process
• Income-based eligibility for state-paid meals
  • State-paid free school lunches would be limited to families with income at or below 500% of the federal poverty guidelines.
• Definitions and program structure
  • The policy and eligibility framework rely on the National School Lunch Program, free/reduced-price meal determinations, and related online or paper applications for determining meal benefits and other educational benefits.

Significant changes to existing law

• Establishes a formal, posted school meals policy requirement for all National School Lunch Program participants, with protections against lunch shaming and debt collection practices.
• Tightens protections around how meals are charged and delivered, ensuring students who qualify for free or reduced meals always receive a meal.
• Requires third-party meal service providers to adhere to the school’s meals policy for contracts entered into or updated after mid-2021.
• Introduces an income-based tier (enhanced eligibility) up to 500% of the federal poverty guidelines, creating a defined category for enhanced meal eligibility and defining what constitutes an enhanced meal.
• Narrows state-funded free meals eligibility to those at or below 500% of the federal poverty guidelines, affecting which families receive free meals funded by the state.
• Amends multiple Minnesota Statutes to implement these changes and align school meals policies with the broader education funding provisions in the bill.

Relevant terms - school meals policy - lunch shaming - unpaid school meals debt - collections agency - reimbursable meal - free meal - reduced-price meal - full paid meal - enhanced student eligibility standard - enhanced student meal - National School Lunch Program - direct certification - application for educational benefits - federal poverty guidelines - 185 percent to 500 percent of the federal poverty guidelines - third-party meal service provider - vendor adherence - online or paper application - limiting state-paid free meals to 500% of FPG - school meals policy posting on website