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My professional perspective is: after 20 plus years in the legal field, I made the decision to continue my education and use knowledge gained to enhance the learning and development of students.
My current field of Education, I am currently obtaining my Masters in Education Guidance and Counseling. Currently, I am employed by Abilene Independent School District in Abilene, Texas.
The audience I wish to reach with my presentation is faculty, staff, shareholders, parents and students.
The topic I choose: Free Lunch Programs and Lunch Shaming. I chose this topic because healthy nutrition is an important component to child development and to preparing for success in school and in life. This is critical for children of all ages, yet particularly important for young children whose brain development is rapidly forming.

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From my interview with Ms. Brown (retired counselor) I learned that lunch shaming along with child hunger is among one of the many obstacles faced by our students. Lunch shaming is a form of bullying that our students are being subjected to by those who are to protect them while attending school each day. Our students have no control over the situations they are living in and subjected to by their parents and guardians. Lunch shaming impacts our students by causing unnecessary embarrassment and humiliation. If a student is hungry, they are not able to stay focused and will become frustrated. This leads to outburst, discipline and behavioral issues.

Best practices for a school counselor in regarding to hunger/lunch shaming:

Is it an oversight on the part of the parents/guardians. Are they experiencing financial hardship?

Provide an application for free/reduced breakfast and lunch to the parents/guardians.

Maybe a child neglect situation, this will need to be reported to a government agency to investigate the students' situation.

An area merging from Lunch Shaming is a recipe for inequity within our schools. Access to these programs is limited by eligibility requirements. One way students qualify for free or reduced lunch is if their family is eligible for federal assistance, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This pathway to eligibility excludes undocumented students and documented immigrants who have been in the United States for fewer than five years. Though these students can qualify in other ways, their families may be wary of submitting paperwork or face language barriers in filling out forms.

I interviewed Ms. Brown who is a retired counselor who I worked alongside at an Elementary campus in Abilene Independent School District. She was a counselor for over thirty years and served students at the Elementary level. Ms. Brown expressed to me in our interview that in the last ten years child hunger/lunch shaming has increased. During her years and experience of serving students Ms. Brown consulted her administrators each time she felt an issue could something related to hunger among her students. Ms. Brown attended many conferences and seminars to stay up to date in knowledge and skills in order to serve her students effectively with the issue they face daily. Ms. Brown shared with me a situation she experienced several years ago. A third grader started having discipline and behavioral issues almost daily. Ms. Brown made several attempts to contact the parents by phone and mail. She began to notice the student becoming more and more withdrawn. After several weeks, Ms. Brown made contact with the student’s grandmother. The grandmother explained that the parents had recently been incarcerated and the student was living with an older sibling. When the grandmother found out she went and picked up the student from the sibling. Ms. Brown helped the grandmother with resources and services provided by the school district and other agencies.

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Incidents of “lunch shaming”—practices that stigmatize students whose meal accounts have a negative balance—have drawn a lot of attention in the news and on social media in recent years. The tales are heartbreaking: In Alabama, an 8-year-old received a stamp on their arm that stated, “I need lunch money,” for all his peers to see. In Minnesota some school districts considered barring high school seniors with outstanding lunch debt from graduation ceremonies, until the state attorney general stepped in to prevent it. Earlier this year, a Pennsylvania school district sent letters to 1,000 students with unpaid lunch debt stating the parent could face delinquency court, which may result in, “your child being removed from your home and placed in foster care.”

Amanda Litvinov, E. (n.d.). States take on 'lunch shaming', but child nutrition still under threat. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/states-take-lunch-shaming-child-nutrition-still-under-threat

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Policymakers at the federal, state and school district level are finding new ways to force impoverished parents to pay for their children’s meals even if doing so means penalizing the children.

The Trump administration determined that more than 500,000 children would no longer be automatically eligible for free school meals under a proposed overhaul to the food stamp program, but left that figure out of its formal proposal, according to House Democrats.

By changing the eligibility provisions, the unfortunate and harmful proposed changes to the SNAP program could compromise food access for millions of families in need as well as potentially inhibit the ability for our youth to achieve their true potential in and out of school.

“Your child has been sent to school every day without money and without a breakfast and/or lunch. This is a failure to provide your child with proper nutrition and you can be sent to Dependency Court for neglecting your child’s right to food. If you are taken to Dependency court, the result may be your child being removed from your home and placed in foster care.”

Amanda Litvinov, E. (n.d.). States take on 'lunch shaming', but child nutrition still under threat. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/states-take-lunch-shaming-child-nutrition-still-under-threat

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School meals are a key component
to student success both in and out of the classroom. But when a child arrives without cash in hand or in her school meal account, the school must decide how to respond.

The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to examine the issue of school meal debt and ultimately required school districts to establish a policy for unpaid school meals fees. The USDA did not, however, establish any national standards for what districts or states must include in their policies, and did not provide any baseline protections for children and families. This is one big reason why the responses to lunch debt vary so widely.

The No Shame at School Act, introduced by Sen. Tina Smith and Rep. Ilhan Omar (both Democrats from Minnesota) would ban any kind of identification of students who cannot pay for lunch at school, like wristbands or hand stamps, and would not allow schools to publish lists of students who owe money for school meals or use debt collectors to recoup meal fees.

School meals are a key component to student success both in and out of the classroom. But without a strong federal policy in place, the challenges of school meal debt and the associated stigma will continue to be stumbling blocks to children, families, and schools across the country.

FitzSimons, C., School, D., Programs, O., & Center, F. (2019, October 16). School lunch debt and lunch shaming is a problem that needs a national solution. Retrieved March 18, 2021, from https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/school-lunch-debt-lunch-shaming-problem-needs-national-solution-ncna1066461

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Federal Law: 42 U.S. Code § 1773 - School breakfast program

There is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to enable the Secretary to carry out a program to assist the States and the Department of Defense through grants-in-aid and other means to initiate, maintain, or expand nonprofit breakfast programs in all schools which make application for assistance and agree to carry out a nonprofit breakfast program in accordance with this chapter. Appropriations and expenditures for this chapter shall be considered Health and Human Services functions for budget purposes rather than functions of Agriculture.

Breakfast assistance payments to State educational agencies; calculation; national average payments for breakfasts, free breakfasts and reduced price breakfasts; maximum price for reduced cost breakfasts; minimum daily nutrition requirements criteria; additional payments for severe need schools; maximum severe need payments.

Disbursement of apportioned funds by State; preference for schools in poor economic areas, for students traveling long distances daily, and for schools for improvement of nutrition and dietary practices of children of working mothers and from low-income families.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1773

42 U.S. Code § 1773

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Federal Law: H.R.5463 - Healthy Meal Time Act of 2019

Extension of eligibility of certain school districts to receive cash or commodity letters of credit assistance for school lunch programs

Pilot program for high-poverty schools

Year-round services for eligible entities: A service institution that is described in section 1761(a)(6) of this title (excluding a public school), or a private nonprofit organization described in section 1761(a)(7) of this title, and that is located in the State of California may be reimbursed for up to 2 meals during each day of operation served- during the months of May through September; (ii) in the case of a service institution that operates a food service program for children on school vacation, at anytime under a continuous school calendar; and (iii) in the case of a service institution that provides meal service at a nonschool site to children who are not in school for a period during the school year due to a natural disaster, building repair, court order, or similar case, at anytime during such a period; and for a snack served during each day of operation after school hours, weekends, and school holidays during the regular school calendar. Free lunch and breakfast eligibility: Subject to the availability of funds under paragraph (4), the Secretary shall expand the service of free lunches and breakfasts provided at schools participating in the school lunch program under this chapter or the school breakfast program under section 1773 of this title in all or part of 5 States selected by the Secretary (of which at least 1 shall be a largely rural State with a significant Native American population).

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/5463

H.R.5463 - Healthy Meal Time Act of 2019

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Federal Law: S.2026 - Farm to School Act of 2019

Agricultural producer —The term ‘agricultural producer’ means a farmer, rancher, or fisher (including farm-raised fish).

In awarding grants under this subsection, the Secretary shall seek to improve local food procurement and distribution options for agricultural producers and eligible institutions.

Maximum amount - the total amount provided to a grant recipient under this subsection shall not exceed $250,000.

Term —The term of an award shall not exceed 3 years.

In general —Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Farm to School Act of 2019 and every 3 years thereafter, the Secretary shall review and submit to the Committees on Agriculture and Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report that describes the progress that has been made in identifying and eliminating regulatory and other barriers related to developing farm to school programs.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/2026

S.2026 - Farm to School Act of 2019

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Federal Law:

S.1907 - No Shame at School Act of 2019

Overt Identification Prohibited —A local educational agency or school food authority may not, based on the status of a covered child as a covered child

Eligibility Determination by Local Educational Agency —For any covered child who is a member of a household that has unpaid school meal fees for 1 consecutive week of meals or more, a local educational agency shall

Collection of Unpaid School Meal Fees —In attempting to collect unpaid school meal fees from a household, a local educational agency or school food authority may not “(i) except as described in subparagraph (E), direct any communication regarding unpaid school meal fees to a covered child who is a member of the household; “(ii) withhold educational opportunities from, or otherwise stigmatize, a covered child due to the status of the covered child as a covered child; or “(iii) use a debt collector (as defined in section 803 of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a)).

Eliminating Stigma in Meal Service—In providing a meal to a covered child, a local educational agency or school food authority may not, based on the status of the covered child as a covered child, dispose of or take away from the covered child any food that has already been served to the covered child.”.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1907/text

S.1907 - No Shame at School Act of 2019

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Slide 10:  Local Administrative Law/Policy/Rule

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Slide 10:  Local Administrative Law/Policy/Rule

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Abilene ISD policy:

Have you recently had a change in your economic situation?  Do you have children who are enrolled in the Abilene Independent School District?  If you have answered, “yes” to both of these questions, the AISD Student Nutrition Department can help.  The Abilene ISD Student Nutrition Department participates in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program and we are proud to offer meal benefits to any student whose family qualifies.  To participate in the program, online applications are available at www.abileneisd.org.

Elementary Student Nutrition Manager’s will send home low and negative balance letters every Tuesday and Thursday.

Please look for this information in your child’s backpack. Parents are welcome to contact the Student Nutrition office to inquire about current account balances of their student. Student account balances can also be checked online if you register on  www.mySchoolBucks.com.

If your student forgets their lunch money, our system will allow charging up to $6.00 for elementary students and $3.00 for middle school and high school students.

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A.6. Appropriate Referrals and Advocacy

c. Connect students with services provided through the local school district and community agencies and remain aware of state laws and local district policies related to students with special needs, including limits to confidentiality and notification to authorities as appropriate (ASCA, 2014).

As a school counselor, our position is to ensure the children on our campus are provided the information needed if there are hunger issues present. In doing so, school counselors are able to make sure our students are able to strive and learn.

American School Counselor Association (2014). Ethical standards for school counselors. Alexandria, VA: Author

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Slide 13: Bulleted list of Recommendations / Best Practices for Compliance

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Slide 13: Bulleted list of Recommendations / Best Practices for Compliance

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Require schools to give students with insufficient funds a grace period lasting at least two weeks, in which they could continue to receive regular meals.

The school would also be required to make at least three attempts to contact parents about low funds.

Avoid pointing out a student’s inability to pay in front of classmates

Feeding Texas, a nonprofit network of food banks, launching a donation page to pay for debts in student lunch accounts.

Help parents fill out the proper paperwork. Provide resources to parents to help with other needs.

Amendment of school budgets to set aside monies to pay for lunch debt.

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Slide 12:  Personal Connection to the Legal and Ethical Standards

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Slide 12:  Personal Connection to the Legal and Ethical Standards

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As a school counselor, our position is to ensure the children on our campus are provided the information needed if there are hunger issues present. In doing so, school counselors are able to make sure our students are able to strive and learn.