A cafeteria worker at an Idaho middle school gave a free lunch to a 12-year-old student who said she was hungry, but the school district fired her Monday for her actions, the Idaho State Journal reported.
Dalene Bowden said the Irving Middle School student didn’t have any money to pay for the hot lunch. The cost: $1.70.
The Pocatello/Chubbuck School District reportedly placed Bowden on leave Dec. 15 before deciding to fire her. She said she offered to pay for the lunch herself, but her supervisor said no.
“This just breaks my heart, and I was in the wrong, but what do you do when the kid tells you that they’re hungry, and they don’t have any money? I handed her the tray,” Bowden told the Journal.
The district fired her for theft and for making inaccurate transactions, the newspaper reported. Interim Superintendent Douglas Howell called it a personnel matter, but did not comment further.
Tens of thousands of people rushed to her defense. A petition supporting Bowden racked up more than 38,000 online signatures as of Wednesday.
“Lunch room policies should prioritize kindness and making sure kids recieve a nutritious lunch so they can be ready to learn,” supporter Raushelle Guzman wrote in the petition, calling for the district to let Bowden return to work.
Students are allowed to charge up to $11.00, but workers can still give them some food if they exceed that limit, the Journal reports.
I think every single bastard that was involved in the firing of this kind cafeteria worker should be hung with a hemp rope. What a sick ass-backwards society we live in now.