A cafeteria worker who was dismissed for giving a student a $1.70 lunch without charge was offered her job back after her story garnered national attention.
However, Dalene Bowden says she is apprehensive about accepting the reinstatement offered Wednesday by the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25.
"I have to think about it," Bowden told the Idaho State Journal. "I'm afraid that they would just make my life miserable and then try to set me up or get rid of me some other way."
Bowden was put on unpaid leave Dec. 15 after giving a 12-year-old student, who said she did not have money, a free lunch. Bowden offered to pay for the $1.70 lunch but her supervisor placed her on termination leave. Her official letter of termination came a few days later.
The change was spurred by national backlash which included an online petition which garnered thousands of signatures; a GoFundMe account that has raised nearly $20,000; and Facebook comunity page with nearly 10,000 followers.
The district said in a release Wednesday that it doesn't fire workers for single events but offered Bowden her job back in the spirit of the holidays.
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