school meals; school personnel; requirements

SB1697 - school meals; school personnel; requirements

Education Labor

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Eva Diaz, Brian Fernandez, Sally Ann Gonzales, Theresa Hatathlie, Lauren Kuby, Catherine Miranda, Analise Ortiz, Kiana Sears
Last action: 2026-02-09
Official status: Senate second read
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

School Meals and Personnel Rules

This bill sets rules for school personnel to ensure students are not treated unfairly due to unpaid meal fees and that no disciplinary action denies or delays a student's access to meals meeting nutrition standards.

What This Bill Does

Requires schools to make sure employees, volunteers, and contractors do not shame or treat differently any student who has unpaid meal fees.
Prohibits serving different meals to students with unpaid meal fees compared to other students, unless the meal is for dietary or religious reasons.
Stops school staff from taking disciplinary actions that would deny or delay a student's access to nutritionally standard meals.

Who It Names or Affects

Public schools and their employees, volunteers, and contractors
Students who have unpaid meal fees

Terms To Know

Prohibited conduct: Actions that are not allowed by the bill.
School personnel: Employees, volunteers, and contractors working in schools.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify what happens if a school violates these rules.
It is unclear how schools will enforce the new requirements without causing issues for students with unpaid meal fees.

Bill History

2026-02-09 Senate
Senate second read
2026-02-05 Senate
Senate Rules: None
2026-02-05 Senate
Senate Education: None
2026-02-05 Senate
Senate first read

Official Summary Text

SB1697 - school meals; school personnel; requirements

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SB1697 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
school meals; school personnel; requirements

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

SB 1697

Introduced by

Senators
Diaz: Fernandez, Gonzales, Hatathlie, Kuby, Miranda, Ortiz, Sears

AN
ACT

amending title 15, chapter 1, ARTICLE 1,
Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 15-120.08; relating to school
meal programs.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 15, chapter 1, article 1,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-120.08, to read:

START_STATUTE
15-120.08.

School meals; prohibited conduct by school personnel

A. Each public school shall ensure
that each school employee, volunteer or contractor who interacts with any
student whose parent has not paid the student's school meal fees does not
either:

1. Shame the student or treat the
student differently from the student's peers because of the unpaid school meal
fees.

2. Serve the student a different meal
than the meals that the employee, volunteer or contractor serves to students
who do not have unpaid school meal fees.� This paragraph does not prohibit a
school or an employee, volunteer or contractor of a school from serving an
alternative meal to a student who requires a special meal for a dietary or
religious reason.

B. Employees, volunteers and
contractors of any public school that serves meals that meet the nutrition
standards prescribed in section 15-242 to students during the
instructional day may not take disciplinary action against a student that
results in the denial or delay of a meal that meets the nutrition standards
prescribed in section 15-242.

END_STATUTE