Kayron McGee serves cheesy bread pizza during school lunch at Thomas Holtzman Elementary School in the Susquehanna Twp. School District. March 30, 2022. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.comThe Pennsylvania House on Monday moved to create a program that would wipe away large amounts of student lunch debt and reinstate a ban on “lunch shaming,” which had been enacted and then repealed in the commonwealth several years ago.
The proposed law “allows us to ensure that kids eat when they are in school regardless of whether or not they can pay,” said Rep. Emily Kinkead, D-Allegheny, the bill’s prime sponsor, and allows school districts to “make sure they can feed kids without having to take funds from other areas in order to cover those debts.
“Study after study has shown that when kids are hungry in school, they do not learn as well, they do not comprehend information, they are more likely to have issues with discipline,” Kinkead said. While no Republicans spoke against the bill Monday, some members of the GOP have previously balked at the financial costs of Democrats’ proposals to end school lunch debt and/or create universal free meals programs, something that Democrats say is well worth the investment given the known benefits for schools.