HB0012 • 2026

Local Education Agencies

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to school meals.

Education

Did Not Pass

The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.

Sponsor: Clemmons, Kyle
Last action: 2025-03-11
Official status: Failed in s/c Education Administration Subcommittee of Education Committee
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and text do not provide specific details about the exact funding mechanism or the extent to which local school districts may face financial changes.

School Meals for All Students

This bill requires local schools in Tennessee to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students, with state funding covering the costs after federal funds are used.

What This Bill Does

Requires each school board to offer a free breakfast and lunch program for every student.
Updates Tennessee's laws about school meals to include these new requirements.

Who It Names or Affects

Local education agencies (LEAs) in Tennessee
Students enrolled in schools under local school boards

Terms To Know

Local Education Agencies (LEAs): School districts or other organizations that manage public schools.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill did not pass in the current session.
Some LEAs may incur both a mandatory decrease in revenue and mandatory increase in expenditures as a result of providing free breakfast and lunch to each student, but exact impacts are hard to predict due to many variables.

Bill History

2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly
Failed in s/c Education Administration Subcommittee of Education Committee
2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Education Administration Subcommittee for 3/11/2025
2025-01-28 Tennessee General Assembly
Assigned to s/c Education Administration Subcommittee
2025-01-16 Tennessee General Assembly
Ref. to Education Committee
2025-01-16 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee
2025-01-15 Tennessee General Assembly
P2C held on desk, pending appointment of Standing Committees
2025-01-15 Tennessee General Assembly
Introduced, Passed on First Consideration
2025-01-14 Tennessee General Assembly
Intro., P1C.
2025-01-14 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction
2024-11-14 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Abstract summarizes the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SENATE BILL 142
By Kyle

HOUSE BILL 12
By Clemmons

HB0012
000375
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
relative to school meals.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-2302, is amended by deleting
the section and substituting instead the following:
(a) Each local school board shall establish a school lunch program and a school
breakfast program that provide a free breakfast and lunch to each student enrolled in a
school under the board's jurisdiction in accordance with rules promulgated under § 49-6-
2303.
(b) The state shall reimburse each LEA the cost of providing a free breakfast
and lunch to each student enrolled in the LEA after all federal funds available pursuant
to the national school lunch program created by the National School Lunch Act (42
U.S.C. §§ 1751-1769), the school breakfast program created by the Child Nutrition Act of
1966 (42 U.S.C. §§ 1771-1789), or another federal program have been applied.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-2303, is amended by deleting
the language ", regardless of its participation" in subdivision (5) and by deleting subdivision (10).
SECTION 3. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to the 2025-2026 school year and each school year thereafter.