,,ii #aaith ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #bidd ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,september #cj1 #bjbe,ms4 ,smith introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,agriculture1 ,nutrition1 and ,forestry ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,richard ,b4 ,russell ,national ,school ,lunch ,act to require mandatory certification for certain students and reduce stigma associated with unpaid school meal fees1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,no ,shame at ,school ,act of #bjbe4 #b4 ,unpaid meal debt 7a7 ,mandatory certification ,section #i7;b77#e7 of the ,richard ,b4 ,russell ,national ,school ,lunch ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #ageh7;b77#e77 is amended-- 7#a7 in the paragraph heading1 by striking ,discretionary and inserting ,mandatory2 and 7#b7 in the matter preceding subparagraph 7,a71 by striking any local educational agency may and inserting a local educational agency shall4 7b7 ,retroactive reimbursement ,section #i7;b77#i77;,c7 of the ,richard ,b4 ,russell ,national ,school ,lunch ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #ageh7;b77#i77;,c77 is amended-- 7#a7 by redesignating clauses 7i7 and 7ii7 as subclauses 7,i7 and 7,,ii71 respectively2 7#b7 in the matter preceding subclause 7,i7 7as so redesignated71 by striking ,except and inserting the following3 7i7 ,in general ,except 2 and 7#c7 by adding at the end the following3 7ii7 ,retroactivity 7,i7 ,in general ,a local educational agency shall revise a previously submitted meal claim to reflect the eligibility approval of a child for free or reduced price meals for the period that begins on the first day of the current school year4 7,,ii7 ,definition of meal claim ,in this clause1 the term meal claim means any documentation provided by a school food authority to a ,state agency to receive reimbursement for the cost of a meal served to a child by that school food authority4 4 7c7 ,reducing stigma associated with unpaid school meal fees ,section #i7;b7 of the ,richard ,b4 ,russell ,national ,school ,lunch ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #ageh7;b77 is amended by striking paragraph 7#aj7 and inserting the following3 7#aj7 ,reducing stigma associated with unpaid school meal fees 7,a7 ,definitions ,in this paragraph3 7i7 ,covered child ,the term covered child means a child who-- 7,i7 is-- 7aa7 enrolled in a school that participates in the school lunch program under this ,act or the school breakfast program under section #d of the ,child ,nutrition ,act of #aiff 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #aggc72 and 7bb7 is a member of a household that owes unpaid school meal fees2 or 7,,ii7 is eligible for a free or reduced price lunch under this section4 7ii7 ,unpaid school meal fees ,the term unpaid school meal fees means outstanding fees owed by a household to a local educational agency for lunch provided under the school lunch program under this ,act or breakfast provided under the school breakfast program under section #d of the ,child ,nutrition ,act of #aiff 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #aggc74 7,b7 ,overt identification prohibited ,a local educational agency or school food authority may not1 based on the status of a covered child as a covered child-- 7i7 physically segregate the covered child2 7ii7 overtly identify the covered child-- 7,i7 through the use of special tokens or tickets2 or 7,,ii7 by an announcement or a published list of names2 or 7iii7 identify or stigmatize the covered child by any other means4 7,c7 ,eligibility determination by local educational agency ,for any covered child who is a member of a household that owes #a week or more of unpaid school meal fees1 a local educational agency shall-- 7i7 attempt to directly certify that covered child for free meals under paragraph 7#d7 or 7#e72 or 7ii7 if a local educational agency is not able to directly certify that covered child under paragraph 7#d7 or 7#e71 provide to the household of the covered child-- 7,i7 a household application for free meals and applicable descriptive material2 and 7,,ii7 written and oral communications to encourage submission of that application4 7,d7 ,collection of unpaid school meal fees ,in attempting to collect unpaid school meal fees from a household1 a local educational agency or school food authority may not-- 7i7 except as described in subparagraph 7,e71 direct any communication regarding unpaid school meal fees to a covered child who is a member of that household2 7ii7 withhold educational opportunities 7including grades and participation in extracurricular activities or local educational agency programs or services7 from1 or otherwise stigmatize1 a covered child who is a member of that household2 or 7iii7 use a debt collector 7as defined in section #hjc of the ,consumer ,credit ,protection ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #afib;a774 7,e7 ,letters ,a school food authority may require that a covered child deliver a sealed letter addressed to a parent or guardian of the covered child that contains a communication relating to unpaid school meal fees1 subject to the condition that the letter shall not be distributed to the covered child in a manner that stigmatizes the covered child4 7,f7 ,eliminating stigma in meal service ,in providing a meal to a covered child1 a local educational agency or school food authority may not1 based on the status of the covered child as a covered child1 dispose of or take away from the covered child any food that has already been served to the covered child4 4