District of Columbia Code
Subchapter II - School Nutrition
§ 38–822.01. General goals and standards

(a)(1) Public schools, public charter schools, and participating private schools shall:
(A) Serve nutritious and well-balanced meals to students.
(B)(i) Provide meals with a vegetarian food option as the main course for breakfast and lunch every day at all grade levels;
(ii) Rotate main course vegetarian food options daily to avoid repetition; and
(iii) Clearly label or identify meals that contain only vegetarian food options as vegetarian; and
(C) Reasonably accommodate religious and non-medical dietary restrictions.
(2) A "school food authority", as defined in 7 C.F.R. § 210.2, shall not require a student requesting a plant-based food option, or other non-medical dietary accommodation, to obtain a note from a doctor.
(b) Public schools, public charter schools, and participating private schools are encouraged to serve plant-based food option as the main course at breakfast and lunch each day to each student.
(c) Public schools, public charter schools, and participating private schools are strongly encouraged to procure food in a manner consistent with the Good Food Purchasing Program's core values.
(July 27, 2010, D.C. Law 18-209, § 201, 57 DCR 4779; Oct. 20, 2011, D.C. Law 19-37, § 2(c), 58 DCR 6841; Mar. 13, 2019, D.C. Law 22-240, § 2(c), 66 DCR 912; Sept. 11, 2019, D.C. Law 23-16, § 7160, 66 DCR 8621.)
D.C. Law 19-37, in subsecs. (a) and (b), substituted “Public schools, public charter schools, and participating private schools” for “Public schools and public charter schools”.
Applicability of D.C. Law 22-240: § 7160 of D.C. Law 23-16 repealed § 3 of D.C. Law 22-240. Therefore the amendment of this section by D.C. Law 22-240 has been implemented.
Applicability of D.C. Law 22-240: § 3 of D.C. Law 22-240 provided that the change made to this section by § 2(c) of D.C. Law 22-240 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.
For temporary (90 days) repeal of applicability provision of D.C. Law 22-240, see § 7160 of Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2019 (D.C. Act 23-112, Sept. 4, 2019, 66 DCR 11964).
For temporary (90 days) repeal of applicability provision of D.C. Law 22-240, see § 7160 of Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2019 (D.C. Act 23-91, July 22, 2019, 66 DCR 8497).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(c) of Healthy Schools Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-143, August 9, 2011, 58 DCR 6814).