Bill Text: NY S06444 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to providing for the rights of students and responsibilities of schools participating in free or reduced fee meal programs; ensures proper information is disseminated and that no student is discriminated against or stigmatized for the use of such programs.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - REFERRED TO EDUCATION [S06444 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S06444-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          6444
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                      May 22, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen. KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
        AN ACT to amend the education law, in  relation  to  providing  for  the
          rights  of  students  and responsibilities of schools participating in
          free or reduced-price meal programs
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 908 to
     2  read as follows:
     3    §  908.  Hunger  free  schools.  1.  For purposes of this section, the
     4  following terms shall have the following meanings:
     5    (a) "meal application" shall mean an application for free or  reduced-
     6  price  meals  pursuant  to  the national school lunch program and school
     7  breakfast program; and
     8    (b) "school" shall mean any institution within the state that provides
     9  primary or secondary education.
    10    2. (a) A school shall provide:
    11    (i) a free, printed meal application in every school enrollment  pack-
    12  et,  or  if  the  school  chooses to use an electronic meal application,
    13  provide in school enrollment packets an explanation  of  the  electronic
    14  meal  application  process and instructions for how parents or guardians
    15  may request a paper application at no cost; and
    16    (ii) meal applications and instructions in a language that parents and
    17  guardians understand. If a parent or guardian cannot read or  understand
    18  a meal application, the school shall offer assistance in completing such
    19  application.
    20    (b)  If  a school becomes aware that a student who has not submitted a
    21  meal application is eligible for free or reduced-price meals, the school
    22  shall complete and file an application for the student under the author-
    23  ity granted by Title 7, Section 245.6(d) of the Code  of  Federal  Regu-
    24  lations.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11059-04-7
        S. 6444                             2
     1    (c)  Paragraphs  (a)  and  (b)  of  this subdivision do not apply to a
     2  school that provides free meals to all students in a year in  which  the
     3  school does not collect meal applications from students.
     4    3.  (a)  Regardless of whether or not a student has money to pay for a
     5  meal or owes money for earlier meals, a school:
     6    (i) shall provide a United States department of agriculture reimbursa-
     7  ble meal to a student who requests one, unless the student's  parent  or
     8  guardian  has  specifically provided written permission to the school to
     9  withhold a meal; and
    10    (ii) shall not throw away a meal after it has been served  because  of
    11  the student's inability to pay for the meal or because money is owed for
    12  earlier meals.
    13    (b) If a student owes money for five or more meals, a school shall:
    14    (i)  check  the state list of students categorically eligible for free
    15  meals to determine if the student is categorically eligible; and
    16    (ii) contact the student's parent and guardian with written  and  oral
    17  communications,  not  including the application or instructions included
    18  in a school enrollment packet, to encourage meal application  submission
    19  and offer assistance in completing the application.
    20    4. A school shall not:
    21    (a)  publicly  identify,  shame,  stigmatize,  or  treat differently a
    22  student who cannot pay for a meal or who owes a meal debt;
    23    (b) require a student who cannot pay for a meal or  who  owes  a  meal
    24  debt to do chores or other work to pay for meals;
    25    (c)  deny  any  student  from participating in afterschool programs or
    26  other extracurricular activities because the student cannot  pay  for  a
    27  meal or owes a meal debt; and
    28    (d)  take  disciplinary  action  that  directly  results in denying or
    29  delaying a student the same meal that is available to other students and
    30  substituting it with an alternate meal because a student cannot pay  for
    31  a meal or owes a meal debt.
    32    5. A school shall direct communications about a student's meal debt to
    33  a  parent  or  guardian  and  not  the  student. Nothing in this section
    34  prohibits a school from sending a student home with a  letter  addressed
    35  to  a parent or guardian provided that it is done in a way that does not
    36  stigmatize the student such as in an unmarked envelope.
    37    6. A school shall not require a parent or  guardian  to  pay  fees  or
    38  costs from collection agencies hired to collect a meal debt.
    39    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.