Thread: School forces 25 hungry students to throw away lunches when they couldn’t pay

School forces 25 hungry students to throw away lunches when they couldn’t pay


By David Edwards
Thursday, April 4, 2013 10:49 EDT


Topics: administrative leave ♦ Robert J. Coelho Middle School

A group Massachusetts parents are outraged and at least one worker has been placed on administrative leave after about 25 students Robert J. Coelho Middle School in Attleboro were forced to throw away their lunches over concerns that they could not pay for the food.

Parents said that some students cried and went home hungry.

School officials told The Sun Chronicle that Whitson’s, the contractor responsible for providing lunches, made the decision to stop students from eating their lunch if there was not enough credit in the student’s pre-paid account or they were not able to provide cash for the meal.

Superintendent Pia Durkin on Wednesday said that the on-site director had been placed on administrative leave and Whitson’s had been instructed not to deny lunch to any student in the future.

“There is no way any child in my school district will ever go hungry,” Durkin insisted. “Children need to eat.”

A school policy requires that the cafeteria provide a cheese sandwich and milk to any student who cannot pay for regular meals.

“I’m pissed that when there are people in prison who are getting meals, my daughter, an honor student, is going hungry,” parent John Greaves told the paper, adding that he would have brought lunch money to the school if he had been notified.

In a statement provided to WFXT, Whitson’s apologized for the incident.

“We regret that these students were denied meals and agree that this situation should have been handled differently,” the statement said. “We apologize to the students and the community for this incident and are conducting a full investigation.”

Watch this video from WFXT, broadcast April 4, 2013.

Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston


[Photo: Shutterstock.com]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/0...y-couldnt-pay/

http://www.alipac.us/f19/while-ameri...3/#post1336701

this is all obama wife doing he don't care about the USA only the illegal Immigrants wake up
get your head Out of the sand

RELATED

Food workers fired as Mass. students denied lunch

Associated Press – Fri, Apr 5, 2013...

ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) — A New York food service company says it has fired four employees after 25 students at a Massachusetts school were denied lunches this week because their prepaid accounts ran low.

Islandia-based Whitsons Culinary Group spokesman Todd Shapiro said Friday the company has "zero tolerance for any individual who leaves a child hungry."

The lunch decision had outraged parents, who said some students at Coelho Middle School in Attleboro cried after being told they couldn't eat.

Company officials said it was a violation of their policy and apologized.

Marketing vice president Holly Van Seggern says the company will give free lunches to all Coelho students for three days next week and host a barbeque for students and families later.

http://news.yahoo.com/food-workers-f...235214235.html