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Subcommittee backs bill to eliminate reduced-price category in school lunches, sponsors say it will prevent hunger
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Summary
House Bill 1153, which would eliminate the reduced-price category so qualifying students receive free school meals, moved out of the subcommittee after sponsors and school nutrition and public-health witnesses argued the change would reduce food insecurity and support learning.
House Bill 1153, which would remove the reduced-price lunch category and make previously ‘reduced’ students eligible for free meals funded by the state, was approved by the House Education Administration Subcommittee and sent to full Education by a recorded vote.
Representative Lynn, sponsor of HB 1153, said the bill would close a gap that leaves families — sometimes unexpectedly — unable to pay the reduced-price balance and that children’s learning suffers when they are hungry or anxious about meal debt. Lynn cited a figure of 274,320 Tennessee children who are food insecure and said about 49,671 students currently participate in the reduced-price program; eliminating the reduced category would ensure students on the cusp of poverty can qualify for no-cost meals.
Several witnesses supported the proposal. Kristen Fritz, a pediatrician and food-insecurity researcher, told the committee that childhood food insecurity is associated with long-term physical and mental-health harms and that many Tennessee families reported increased food insecurity beginning in 2022. Fritz said a statewide survey found 85% of families would support universal free school meals for children.
Melissa Blake, a school nutrition manager from Dixon County, testified about meal debt accruals that districts must write off from local budgets and said districts are sometimes forced to use classroom funds to clear unpaid meal balances.
In questions, members asked about whether the bill would require districts without a breakfast program to start one; the sponsor said the bill was meant to eliminate the reduced category and that fiscal questions raised by committee members would be addressed with Fiscal Review prior to further consideration. The clerk recorded six ayes on the roll call; HB 1153 moved on to full Education.
