Bill Text: NJ S599 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Clarifies that school district is not required to restrict access to school meals if school meal bill is in arrears.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-14 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S599 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S599-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Senator THOMAS H. KEAN, JR.
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Clarifies that school district is not required to restrict access to school meals if school meal bill is in arrears.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning school meals and amending P.L.2015, c.15.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.2015, c.15 (C.18A:33-21) is amended to read as follows:
1. In the event that a school district determines that a student's school breakfast or school lunch bill is in arrears, the district shall contact the student's parent or guardian to provide notice of the arrearage and shall provide the parent or guardian with a period of 10 school days to pay the amount due. If the student's parent or guardian has not made full payment by the end of the 10 school days, then the district shall again contact the student's parent or guardian to provide notice that school breakfast or school lunch, as applicable, shall not be served to the student beginning one week from the date of the second notice unless payment is made in full.
A school district shall report at least biannually to the Department of Agriculture the number of students who are denied school breakfast or school lunch pursuant to this section.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a school district to deny or restrict access to school breakfast or school lunch to a student whose school breakfast or school lunch bill is in arrears.
(cf: P.L.2018, c.27, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
In February of 2015, the Legislature enacted P.L.2015, c.15 (C.18A:33-21) to establish a process that a school district must follow prior to denying a school breakfast or a school lunch to a student due to the fact that the student's school breakfast or school lunch bill was in arrears. The purpose of the law was to ensure that a student was not suddenly denied a school breakfast or school lunch, and that the student's parent or guardian received proper notice of the arrearage and an adequate opportunity to address the arrearage prior to the school district making a determination to deny the student school meals. The purpose of this bill is to clarify that nothing in this section of law requires a school district to deny school breakfast or school lunch to a student whose bill is in arrears, but rather to provide adequate notice and opportunity to the student's parent or guardian if the district determines to take such an action.
