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Bill would require school boards to publicly vote on accepting donations to clear student lunch debt
Summary
Sen. Keith Murphy told the committee he filed Senate Bill 69 after a district administrator refused a church offer to pay student lunch debt and instead sued five families; the bill would require school boards to formally accept or reject charitable contributions in public session.
Senator Keith Murphy introduced Senate Bill 69 to require local school boards to vote in public session to accept or reject charitable contributions offered to clear student indebtedness, saying he filed the measure after a town in his district saw families sued for unpaid lunch balances despite an offer by a church to pay the debts. "I filed this legislation essentially so the discussion would have to take place and the school board would have to vote to accept or reject the gift if any similar circumstance would arise again," Murphy told the House Education Committee.
Why it matters: The bill is aimed at transparency around offers to pay student debt and at preventing situations in which a district pursues litigation rather than accepting charity. Murphy described a case in which a…
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