Kid 30 Cent Short, So Cafeteria Worker Threw Breakfast Trash

How's this for petty? A student on the reduced meals plan at Barber Middle School in Dickinson, Texas, was 30 cents short in his meals account when he came to the cafeteria to get his breakfast. Rather than figure out some kind of solution to the problem, a cafeteria worker decided it would be totally okay to throw the kid's breakfast in the trash.

Jennifer Castilleja of Dickinson County said she received a call from her son's school Wednesday morning and was told the cafeteria refused to let the boy eat unless she came in and paid the 30 cents owed.

When Castilleja told school officials she was on her way to the school to pay and asked that they let her son eat until she arrived, the school refused.

According to KTRK-TV, Castilleja says her son is on the reduced meal cost plan and her prepaid account had simply run out of funds.

Needless to say, not only was this petty and unnecessary (and waste of a perfectly good breakfast!), but it was humiliating for the kid. "There were kids all around him," his mother said. "I think he may have been a little embarrassed and upset and, of course, hungry."

Even besides the point this was 30 EFFING CENTS, I don't understand why anyone would feel it's acceptable to punish a sixth grader for insufficient funds in the meal account. And it's pretty common knowledge that skipping breakfast leads to poor focus and health in children.

 

Here's to hoping that cafeteria worker was reprimanded for their behavior, and that the school district takes a look at their policy of punishing schoolchildren for insignificant debts like these.