DeLauro Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Prohibit School ‘Lunch Shaming’

WASHINGTON, DC (May 9, 2017) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) this week introduced bipartisan legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to prohibit schools from discriminating against or stigmatizing children who have outstanding credit or do not have enough money to pay for meals at school. The Anti-Lunch Shaming Act, would ban schools from singling out children—such as by requiring them to wear wristbands or hand stamps or do extra chores—because their parents have not paid their school meal bills.

"No school in America should ever resort to shaming a child in order to force a low-income parent to pay a bill. From throwing food away in front of a child, to forcing a child to accept a less desirable, alternative lunch, schools are taking outrageous and immoral actions against America's most vulnerable children," said DeLauro. "Rather than shaming a child, schools should work directly with parents to find common sense solutions, like payment plans, to address the underlying issues. The Anti-Lunch Shaming Act is a strong step forward in addressing this issue and Congress should immediately pass the legislation to stop this widespread practice."

In an effort to decrease school meal debt, some schools require cafeteria workers to take these steps and others—in some cases even throwing the child's meal away—rather than extending credit for meals. The Anti-Lunch Shaming Act prohibits these tactics by requiring schools to direct communications regarding meal debt to the parent, not the child. The bill also aims to make the process for applying for free and reduced price lunch applications simpler by expressing that it is the sense of Congress that schools should provide these applications more effectively to the families who need them, coordinate with other programs to ensure that homeless and foster children are enrolled for free meals, and set up online systems to make paying for meals easier for parents when possible.

DeLauro was joined by U.S. Representatives Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Rodney Davis (R-IL), and Bobby Scott (D-VA) in introducing the legislation. U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-NM), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced the companion legislation in the U.S. Senate.

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