---
title: HB 993. Nourish to Flourish Act; enact
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb993
cite_as: HB 993, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb993
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb993.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb993/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72260
date: 2026-01-27
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb993.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 993
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-01-15
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Imani Barnes
- Mekyah McQueen
- Karla Drenner
- Rhonda Taylor
- Karen Lupton
- Long Tran
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB993/2025
upstream_id: 2083371
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- school lunch
- public schools
- student wellness
- education policy
---
# HB 993. Nourish to Flourish Act; enact
## Text
House Bill 993
By: Representatives Barnes of the 86th, McQueen of the 61st, Drenner of the 85th, Taylor of
the 92nd, Lupton of the 83rd, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Part 15 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to miscellaneous provisions under the "Quality Basic Education Act,"
so as to require that public schools schedule a lunch period for each class that includes not
less than 30 consecutive minutes of seated time beginning from the time that a majority of
the class has been seated after receiving their meals; to require local boards of education or
other public school governing bodies to establish certain policies; to require the State Board
of Education to promulgate rules and regulations; to authorize the State Board of Education
to provide grants; to provide a definition; to provide for related matters; to provide a short
title; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Nourish to Flourish Act."
SECTION 2.
Part 15 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to miscellaneous provisions under the "Quality Basic Education Act," is amended
by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"20-2-323.1.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term 'seated time' means the time that a student has
to eat his or her meal during the lunch period, excluding time spent waiting in line to
receive such meal.
(b) Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, each public school shall schedule a daily
lunch period for each class that includes not less than 30 consecutive minutes of seated
time beginning from the time that a majority of the class has been seated after receiving
their meals.
(c) Each local board of education or other public school governing body shall establish a
written policy requiring a daily lunch period for each class that includes not less than 30
consecutive minutes of seated time beginning from the time that a majority of the class has
been seated after receiving their meals. Such policies shall include, but shall not be limited
to, the following matters to ensure that all students have sufficient time to eat lunch during
the lunch period:
(1) Scheduling strategies for lunch periods;
(2) Staffing patterns for school lunch personnel; and
(3) Strategies and methods to minimize the time students spend waiting in line to receive
meals.
(d) The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules and regulations which provide
that each local school system or other public school shall submit an annual report to the
Department of Education that shall include:
(1) The policy established pursuant to subsection (c) of this Code section; and
(2) The lunch period schedule for each public school.
(e) Subject to appropriations, the State Board of Education shall be authorized to provide
grants to local school systems or other public schools for the purpose of implementing the
provisions of this Code section if a local school system or other public school requires
funding in excess of the funding provided for in Code Section 20-2-187 in order to
implement the provisions of this Code section."
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia House bill would require every public school to give students at least 30 consecutive minutes of seated lunch time, starting in the 2026-2027 school year.
### Plain-language summary
Currently Georgia law does not set a minimum amount of time students must have to actually eat lunch once seated. House Bill 993, called the Nourish to Flourish Act, would add a new section to the Quality Basic Education Act requiring every public school to schedule a daily lunch period with at least 30 consecutive minutes of 'seated time,' defined as time to eat once a majority of the class has sat down with their meals, not counting time spent waiting in line.
Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, local school boards or other school governing bodies would have to adopt written policies covering lunch scheduling, staffing of lunch personnel, and ways to cut down line-waiting time. Schools would report their policies and lunch schedules annually to the Department of Education. The State Board of Education would write rules to enforce this and could offer grants to schools that need extra funding beyond what they already receive to comply.
### What it does
- Requires public schools to schedule a daily lunch period with at least 30 consecutive minutes of seated eating time starting in the 2026-2027 school year.
- Defines 'seated time' as time to eat after a majority of the class is seated with meals, excluding time spent waiting in line.
- Requires local school boards or governing bodies to adopt written policies on lunch scheduling, staffing, and reducing line wait times.
- Requires local school systems to submit an annual report to the Department of Education describing their lunch policy and schedule.
- Directs the State Board of Education to write rules and regulations to implement the new requirement.
- Allows the State Board of Education to give grants to schools that need extra money, beyond existing school lunch funding, to meet the new rule.
### Who it affects
Public school students and the teachers and cafeteria staff who manage lunch periods, local school boards and other public school governing bodies that must write new policies, the Department of Education, which collects annual reports, and the State Board of Education, which writes rules and may award grants.
### Why it matters
Students at schools with short or rushed lunch periods would be guaranteed at least 30 minutes to actually eat once seated, which could mean changes to bell schedules, cafeteria staffing, and lunch line procedures. Schools that need more money to make these changes could seek state grants.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 gives the bill its short title, the 'Nourish to Flourish Act.'
- Section 2 adds new Code Section 20-2-323.1 to Georgia's Quality Basic Education Act (O.C.G.A. Title 20, Chapter 2).
- Subsection (a) defines 'seated time' as eating time after a majority of the class is seated, not counting time waiting in line for food.
- Subsection (b) requires each public school, beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, to schedule at least 30 consecutive minutes of seated lunch time daily.
- Subsection (c) requires local school boards to adopt written policies on lunch scheduling, cafeteria staffing, and reducing line wait times.
- Subsection (d) requires the State Board of Education to write rules requiring annual reports from schools on their lunch policies and schedules.
- Subsection (e) authorizes, subject to available state funding, grants from the State Board of Education to schools needing extra money to comply.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-01-15)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-01-27)
- Sponsors: Imani Barnes, Mekyah McQueen, Karla Drenner, Rhonda Taylor, Karen Lupton, Long Tran
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72260
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb993.md?full=1