Lunch Lady Fired For Serving $8 Meal To Student Who Didn’t Have Enough Money

A lunch lady at a New Hampshire high school allowed a student to put items on his tray even though he didn’t have the money to pay for it. The student had promised to come back with the money from their parents the following day. Since Bonnie Kimball knew the student personally and their family, she was sure they would make good on their debt.

While that sounded reasonable, a district manager from Café Services didn’t think so. After witnessing the incident during an inspection, Bonnie was fired the next day.

She said:

“The student didn’t have any money on their account. So, I have a district manager here, my boss has told me, ‘Don’t cause any scenes with the contract,’ and I quietly said, ‘Tell (your) mom you need money.'”

The kid said he would tell his mom and Bonnie thought that was that until she was fired the next day. Understandably, Bonnie is devastated.

Café Services explained in a letter the reason for Bonnie’s termination. They said that a District Manager on-site witnessed a student carrying multiple food that was not charged for. The Service then noted that it is a violation of their Cash Handling Procedures, the Schools Charge Policy and Federal Regulation governing free meals.

Director of Human Resources for Cafe Services Jaime Matheson said the student wouldn’t have been without a meal. He also noted that “an employee of the company would not be let go because they provide this lunch to a student.

Bonnie shared that the incident is not the fault of the school district, adding that she has received encouragement from officials. Despite having four grandchildren in the school district, said she had no intention of returning and accused the company of only offering to rehire her “so that it could keep its contract.”