A bill that would make so-called school lunch shaming illegal is advancing in the Arizona Legislature.

The House transmitted House Bill 2186 to the Senate Tuesday.

“Children can’t ... learn if they don’t eat,” said Angie Rogers, president and CEO of the Association of Arizona Food Banks, during an Education Committee hearing earlier this year. “This bill eliminates the risk children don’t eat if they can’t pay.”  

The bill does that by taking existing Arizona Department of Education guidelines and codifying them in state law.

For example, schools cannot announce the names of children with outstanding fees, serve them a separate unappealing meal or require them to work off their charges.

Schools must provide nutritious meals to all students who want one.

Sen. Sen. Martín Quezada sponsored a similar bill in 2017.