Today Senator Karin Housley (R-Stillwater) presented legislation in the Minnesota Senate Education Finance and Policy Committee which seeks to end the practice of “lunch shaming” in the state of Minnesota. If passed, this bill would prohibit schools from denying school meals when children have an outstanding lunch balance, provide specific examples around what constitutes lunch shaming, forbid certain types of lunch shaming (bans on school events like graduation ceremonies, extracurricular activities, and field trip participation), and establish a role for the commissioner to ensure schools remedy practices that are out of compliance.

“Versions of this bill have visited the Education committee before, but I’m hopeful this is the year we finally end lunch shaming,” said Senator Housley. “When a student’s family can’t afford to pay for their child’s school lunch, and the student’s lunch account goes into overdraft, the student will either get their lunch taken away or get it replaced with a cheese sandwich. In some cases, they’ll even get a stamp on their arm. And this all happens in the lunch line, while the student is interacting with other children. It’s shocking to me that lunch shaming still happens in Minnesota schools.”

As schools continue to reopen and students begin returning to classrooms, food security will need to be addressed. This bill will guarantee that even in times of uncertainty, under-served students will be getting a nutritious meal without suffering any form of “food shaming,” and also ensures that any communication regarding school meal balances remains strictly between the parents and the school.

“These are moments a child will never forget,” continued Senator Housley. “It is truly heartbreaking that this is something we even have to put in statute, but at this point, it’s absolutely necessary. We’ve talked about this bill multiple times throughout the last few years, and yet schools are STILL engaging in these disturbing practices. It’s time to end this—our children deserve better treatment regarding things that are outside of their control.”