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SB42 • 2026

School boards; payment of school meal debt.

A BILL to require the Department of Education to evaluate the impact of requiring each school board to pay for the total unpaid school meal balance resulting from uncollectible school meal debts on any student account at the end of the school year; report.

Education
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Roem
Last action
2026-03-06
Official status
Continued
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

School Meal Debt Report Requirement

This bill requires the Department of Education to study how requiring school boards to pay for unpaid school meal debts affects schools and report their findings by November 1, 2026.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires the Department of Education to evaluate the impact of making school boards responsible for paying unpaid school meal balances at the end of each school year.
  • Involves reviewing data on uncollectible school meal debts and socioeconomic information about affected families in each school district.
  • Includes looking into how this requirement would affect local school funds and current funding sources used to cover these debts.
  • Considers best practices from other areas, like Prince William County, for handling unpaid school meal debts.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The Department of Education
  • School boards in Virginia
  • Public elementary and secondary schools

Terms To Know

Nonprofit food service account
An account used by public schools to manage funds for providing meals.
Uncollectible school meal debt
Money owed for school meals that cannot be collected from students or their families.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what actions will be taken based on the report's findings.
  • It is unclear how much this evaluation and reporting process will cost.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-06 Rules

    Continued to 2027 in Rules (Voice Vote)

  2. 2026-03-02 Studies Subcommittee

    Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2027 (Voice Vote)

  3. 2026-03-01 Studies Subcommittee

    Assigned HRUL sub: Studies Subcommittee

  4. 2026-02-25 Education

    Reported from Education and referred to Rules (16-Y 6-N)

  5. 2026-02-24 K-12 Subcommittee

    Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 2-N)

  6. 2026-02-12 House

    Placed on Calendar

  7. 2026-02-12 House

    Read first time

  8. 2026-02-12 Education

    Referred to Committee on Education

  9. 2026-02-11 Finance and Appropriations

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB42)

  10. 2026-02-06 Senate

    Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

  11. 2026-02-05 Senate

    Read second time

  12. 2026-02-05 Senate

    Engrossed by Senate committee substitute (Voice Vote)

  13. 2026-02-05 Finance and Appropriations

    Courts of Justice Substitute agreed to

  14. 2026-02-05 Senate

    Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)

  15. 2026-02-04 Senate

    Rules suspended

  16. 2026-02-04 Senate

    Passed by for the day

  17. 2026-02-04 Senate

    Passed by for the day

  18. 2026-02-04 Senate

    Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

  19. 2026-02-04 Senate

    Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)

  20. 2026-02-03 Finance and Appropriations

    Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (15-Y 0-N)

  21. 2026-02-03 Finance and Appropriations

    Committee substitute printed 26106624D-S1

  22. 2026-01-29 Senate

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB42)

  23. 2026-01-22 Education and Health

    Reported from Education and Health and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (13-Y 1-N)

  24. 2026-01-15 Public Education

    Assigned Education sub: Public Education

  25. 2025-11-22 Senate

    Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100754D

  26. 2025-11-22 Education and Health

    Referred to Committee on Education and Health

Official Summary Text

Department of Education; impact of requiring each school board to pay unpaid meal balance from uncollectible school meal debts; report.
Directs the Department of Education to evaluate and submit to the chairs of the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and Education and Health and the House Committees on Appropriations and Education by November 1, 2026, a report on the impact of requiring each school board, at the end of each school year, to pay for the total unpaid school meal balance on the nonprofit food service account of each public elementary or secondary school in the school division resulting from uncollectible school meal debts on any student account.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL NO. 42
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations
on February 3, 2026)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Senator Roem)
A BILL to require the Department of Education to evaluate the impact of requiring each school board to pay for the total unpaid school meal balance resulting from uncollectible school meal debts on any student account at the end of the school year; report.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1.
§ 1. That the Department of Education (the Department) shall evaluate the impact of requiring each school board, at the end of each school year, to pay for the total unpaid school meal balance on the nonprofit food service account of each public elementary or secondary school in the school division resulting from uncollectible school meal debts on any student account. In conducting the evaluation, the Department, in consultation with the school divisions, shall review (i) the total amount of uncollectible school meal debt in public elementary and secondary schools in each school district; (ii) aggregate socioeconomic data on children and families with uncollectible school meal debt in each school district; (iii) the fiscal impact of school boards paying the uncollectible school meal debt on local school funds in each school district; (iv) current funding sources that school boards use to pay uncollectible school meal debt; and (v) best practices and other strategies employed in localities such as Prince William County to pay uncollectible school meal debt. The Department shall submit a report on any findings to the Chairs of the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and Education and Health and the House Committees on Appropriations and Education no later than November 1, 2026.