A cafeteria worker in the Canon-McMillan School District said she quit her job because of a new lunch policy that affects students whose accounts are delinquent.
Under the guidelines of the policy, "After overdrawing the cafeteria account by twenty-five dollars ($25.00), students in grade K-6 will be able to charge an alternate lunch which will consist of a sandwich, a fruit/vegetable serving and milk. Students in grades 7-12 will not be allowed to charge any additional lunches." (CLICK HERE to read the full policy.)
Stacy Koltiska resigned from her job at Wylandville Elementary School's Cafeteria, citing the policy as her reason in a Facebook post.
“They get one slice of cheese between two cold pieces of bread, not even toasted,” she told WPXI. “What am I supposed to do? Take their hot tray, remove the food, put down the cheese sandwich and throw it away? And the food director said, ‘Well, don't let them see you throw it away.’”
Koltiska said she found the policy to be too difficult to enforce when she had to take hot food away from a young boy.
“He was like, ‘Oh chicken,’ and his eyes welled up with tears, and it was so heartbreaking, and I’ll never forget it,” Koltiska said.
Koltiska said it is unfair that the school still charges students for a hot lunch when they are instead served a cold lunch.
Koltiska's Facebook post has been shared thousands of times, and the Canon-McMillan School District has also since taken to Facebook about concerns raised in regard to the policy.
“The purpose of Policy 808.1 is to resolve what has become a statewide issue at our local level. It is to address accountability for deficit lunch accounts accrued by families with the ability to pay for their child’s school meals,” the district’s post, in part, said.
Koltiska said that just because it’s a state issue and other schools have adopted the policy, that doesn’t mean it is right.
“These people pass these laws and regulations, but we are the ones taking that food from that child, not you. You make your policies, but we have to enforce them,” she said.
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