Why require schools to offer nondairy milk alternatives? Aren’t schools currently required to provide nondairy milk alternatives for students who are lactose intolerant?
• Schools are only required to provide an alternative to dairy milk for students who have a disability, such as an allergy, upon receipt of a written statement from a licensed physician. 42 U.S.C. §1758(a)(1)(B)(iii). • Any reason other than a disability (including lactose intolerance, religious, or ethical preference) requires a note signed by a doctor or parent, but even then schools are not required to provide a substitute beverage that is nutritionally equivalent to dairy milk. If a school district decides to provide a substitute, it must first notify the state educational agency, which is a significant burden. Currently, schools that provide a dairy milk substitute must incur the additional expense of purchasing the substitute, which is often significant compared to the low cost of dairy milk available to schools. 42 U.S.C. §1758(a)(2)(B). • Also, most schools are unable to provide a nutritionally-equivalent substitute for fluid milk, because most of the readily available dairy mi
