West Virginia House Bill HB2813

West Virginia 2025 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/24/25
• Refer: 2/24/25

Caption

Limiting the amount of carbohydrates served to children during a school day to a total of 75g per day

Summary

HB2813 would amend West Virginia’s Feed to Achieve Act to add a new nutrition requirement for public schools: county boards of education would have to ensure that the total carbohydrates served to children during a school day do not exceed 75 grams per day. The bill keeps the existing framework for school breakfast and lunch programs, including the state Office of Child Nutrition’s role, county-level implementation, and reporting requirements, while adding carbohydrate limits as an enforceable nutrition standard. The bill also preserves several existing provisions in the Feed to Achieve Act, such as support for free or reduced-price meals, breakfast delivery systems, and the ability to use nonprofit or foundation funds to support meal programs. It states that teachers cannot be required to run breakfast programs as part of their regular duties and allows counties to continue nutrition programs at their own expense if federal funding ends. The new carbohydrate cap would be monitored through county board compliance, with the bill directing that failure to comply could lead to restrictions on school lunch funding.

Impact

HB2813 would directly amend West Virginia Code §18-5D-3, adding a statewide carbohydrate limit for meals served to students during the school day and tying compliance to school lunch funding consequences. It would affect county boards of education, school nutrition programs, and the state Office of Child Nutrition, which would remain involved in implementation and oversight alongside county health departments. The bill would create a new nutrition standard layered onto existing school meal requirements and could require schools to adjust menus, procurement, and meal planning to meet the 75-gram cap.

Sentiment

No committee transcript or vote record is available for HB2813, so there is no documented legislative debate or recorded sentiment in the provided materials. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears to reflect a policy preference for stricter school nutrition standards and greater control over carbohydrate intake in school meals. Because the bill was introduced and referred to the House Committee on Education without further recorded action here, its reception cannot be determined from the available history.

Contention

The main point of contention is likely the practicality and policy basis of imposing a hard 75-gram carbohydrate cap on school meals. Potential concerns include whether the limit is nutritionally appropriate for all students, how schools would measure and enforce compliance, and whether the funding penalty is too punitive for counties that struggle to meet the standard. Supporters would likely emphasize child nutrition and healthier school meals, while opponents may question administrative burden, menu flexibility, and the risk of reducing meal participation or increasing costs.