School ‘lunch shaming’ will go away as SC nails budget deal. Here’s how, what else is included

South Carolina students who have unpaid school lunch debt will be protected from so-called “lunch shaming” under the final state budget proposal approved by lawmakers Wednesday.

A ban on the practice was included in a proviso, or one-year law attached, to the budget.

Through so-called lunch shaming, students with lunch debt typically receive an alternative school meal such as a cheese sandwich and a piece of fruit, or they are kept from participating in extracurricular activities or field tripsuntil their debt is paid.

Wholespire, a nonprofit that pushes for equitable access to healthy food, said nearly a quarter of the 40 school districts that responded to a survey in South Carolina had some form of lunch shaming.

“When a child is fed, they learn. And we’ve seen study after study show that test scores improve, behavior improves. And that’s important,” said Phillip Ford, who was the policy and advocacy consultant for Wholespire, which pushed for the proposal.

The proviso specifically bans schools from denying meals or serving alternative meals to a student, requiring chores or work in exchange for meals, prohibiting participation in extracurricular activities or in graduation or withholding diplomas or refusing transcript requests if they have unpaid debts. Any communication about the unpaid debt must be directed toward the student’s parents.

The state budget deal, which outlines how $13.8 billion will be spent during the fiscal year that begins July 1, still needs to be signed by Gov. Henry McMaster.

The school lunch proviso also requires school districts that qualify to participate in a federal program that provides free breakfasts and lunches to all students enrolled in high-poverty schools.

If school districts that qualify for the program don’t participate, they will need to show they would lose money by participating in the program.

“The first thing is, we’re leaving money on the table” when qualifying districts don’t accept the federal free meal program, Ford said. “Districts are leaving money on the table. If we have an opportunity to help kids, we should.”

“There’s money out there to feed our kids, and there are school districts not taking advantage of programs that are eligible to them,” Ford added.

Last year, state lawmakers passed a bill that prevents school districts from sending families to collections over school meal debt. School districts, however, can report families who owe money to the state Department of Revenue.

“They still do have some capacity to recoup some of those debts,” Ford said.

State Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, has pushed for universal free lunch in the state, but her bill has not moved in the Senate. Ford said discussions in the House and Senate however have taken place.

“We are going to be pushing hard to make sure that bill becomes law next year,” Ford said.

Clemson, USC spending agreement reached

Budget writers finally agreed last week on the $13.8 billion spending plan after ending a stalemate over how much money to send to the state’s largest universities.

The budget deal will send $102 million to Clemson University to build the state’s first veterinary school.

“I think it’s a good idea. I think we need a vet school. I think Clemson is a logical place for it,” McMaster told reporters last week.

In an attempt to keep parity between the universities, budget writers agreed to send $55 million to the University of South Carolina’s Columbia campus, which includes money for a STEM programming in high-demand areas and the school’s science and technology center.

In-state college students also will receive a reprieve in their tuition. Colleges and universities will receive $124 million for tuition mitigationand inflationary costs to freeze tuition rates for in state college students for the fifth year in a row.

One of the largest budget earmarks will be money for the South Carolina Technology and Aircraft Center, a Greenville County business park where F-16s are built.

The $55 million earmark will be used to refurbish the industrial park and upgrade the runway. A lot of the infrastructure at the park has not been upgraded since World War II, according to the Senate Finance Committee.

Among the businesses at the industrial park are Lockheed Martin, Stevens Aerospace Defense Systems, 3M and Michelin.

“It’s important to the defense of this country,” said Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington, who leads a panel of Senate Finance Committee members who oversee economic development spending. “It is important to this state with economic development and maintaining those businesses in this state and their commitment here. But again, it is a huge benefit or support of the military of this country.”

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, also has a large earmark in the budget.

He sponsored a $14.3 million earmark for Piedmont Technical College to build a new advanced manufacturing career center to serve schools in Saluda, Lexington and Aiken counties.

The career center could specifically benefit three high schools “that have difficulty providing career opportunities for their students,” Massey said: Batesburg-Leesville, Saluda and Ridge Spring-Monetta.

Other budget highlights

▪ State employees will receive a pay raise of $2,500 or 5%, whichever is greater. The spending plan includes additional money for additional retention and recruitment raises for state law enforcement, nurses and mental health professionals.

▪ The state’s starting teacher pay increases by $2,500 to $42,500. The deal also includes money to increase each cell in the teacher salary schedule, which bases teacher pay off of experience and education level, by $2,500.

▪ The Department of Juvenile Justice will receive $64.5 million for renovations and facility improvements, including $16 million for construction of a new detention center.

▪ The Department of Social Services will receive $5 million to continue its Healthy Bucks program, which encourages people on food stamps to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, and $15.6 million to upgrade its food stamp computer system.

“It takes care of our kids, our teachers, our law enforcement,” House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister said of the budget.