S 425

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 425
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)
Committee Report
April 29, 2025
S. 425
Introduced by Senators Davis, Hembree, Ott,
Elliott, Jackson, Rankin and Devine
S. Printed 4/29/25--H.
Read the first time April 3, 2025
________
The committee on House
Agriculture, Natural Res. and Environmental Affairs
To whom was referred a Bill (S. 425) to
amend the South Carolina Code of Laws by adding Section 59-63-795 so as to
provide each public school district annually shall identify the number of its
students, etc., respectfully
Report:
That they have duly and carefully
considered the same, and recommend that the same do pass:
WILLIAM HIXON for
Committee.
_______
A bill
TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING
SECTION 59-63-795 SO AS TO PROVIDE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT ANNUALLY SHALL
IDENTIFY THE NUMBER OF ITS STUDENTS WHO LIVE IN POVERTY AND INCREASE ACCESS TO
FREE SCHOOL BREAKFASTS AND LUNCHES FOR THESE STUDENTS, TO PROVIDE CRITERIA FOR
DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY, TO PROVIDE RELATED REQUIREMENTS OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS,
SCHOOLS, AND SCHOOL BOARDS.
Be it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION
1.  Article 7, Chapter 63, Title 59 of the S.C. Code
is amended by adding:
    Section
59-63-795. (A) Each public school
district annually shall identify the number of its students who live in poverty
and increase access to free school breakfasts and lunches for these students.
This number must be obtained from the annual State Aide to Classrooms
formulation in the annual state budget. For purposes of this section, "students
in poverty" means students who:
       (1)
qualify for Medicaid benefits;
       (2)
qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits;
       (3)
qualify for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits; or
       (4)
are homeless, transient, or in foster care.
    (B)
The local board of trustees of a district in which all schools are eligible to
receive the free federal reimbursement rate for all reimbursable school
breakfasts and lunches served, pursuant to the Community Eligibility Provision
(CEP) in Section 1759(a) of Title 42 of the United States Code, shall adopt a
resolution indicating its degree of participation, if any, in CEP. If a
district is unable to participate in CEP because participation would cause a
financial hardship, its board shall adopt a resolution stating that it is
unable to participate in CEP and demonstrate the financial hardship. The
resolution must be published on a public meeting agenda concurrently with the
proposed district budget as an action item. A majority of the board members is
required to approve any resolution under this subsection. The requirements of
this subsection shall be suspended if CEP is suspended or discontinued by
federal action.
    (C)
A district shall ensure that the parents or guardians of students eligible for
free and reduced lunch receive the necessary applications and instructions and,
upon request, are provided with assistance in completing the paperwork. If a
student is unable to pay for a meal or accrues meal debt, the student's
district or school may not publicly identify or penalize the student in any way
including, but not limited to, denying meals, serving alternative meals,
discarding meals after serving them to the student, requiring chores or work in
exchange for meals, prohibiting participation in extracurricular activities,
denying participation in graduation, withholding diplomas, or refusing
transcript requests. Communications from the district or school regarding any
meal debt owed only may be directed to the parent or guardian of the student
and may be sent home through the student.
SECTION 2.  This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.
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This web page was last updated on April 29, 2025 at 06:04 PM