Bill would let state use leftover school meal funds to reimburse districts for delinquent meal debt, testimony says

Representative Jonas presented House Bill 1100 to the House Education Committee, saying the bill would allow leftover appropriations from the $6 million free-and-reduced meal funding passed in the 2023 K–12 funding bill to be redirected to reimburse school districts for delinquent school meal debt and require a legislative report on the extent of the debt.

Jonas told the committee the North Dakota scholarship allocation in session 2023 included $6,000,000 for free and reduced-price school meals, which aided roughly 10,000 students statewide. He estimated delinquent meal debt statewide at about $2–3 million and gave district examples: Grand Forks roughly $67,000, Bismarck about $63,000, Fargo about $125,000 and West Fargo about $180,000 (West Fargo projected that amount could rise to roughly $250,000 by the end of the school year).

Nick Archuleta, president of North Dakota United, testified in support and urged a "due pass" recommendation, saying reimbursement would reduce…