Dozens of children at a Utah elementary school had their lunch trays snatched away and thrown out due to unpaid balances on their meal accounts, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
At least 40 students at Uintah Elementary School on Tuesday had their regular lunch period meals replaced with milk and fruit after reports showed some students had negative balances in the accounts used to pay for their lunches.
"So she took my lunch away and said, 'Go get a milk,'" fifth-grader Sophia Isom told Utah outlet KSL-TV. "I came back and asked, 'What's going on?' Then she handed me an orange, [and] said, 'You don't have any money in your account so you can't get lunch.'"
Erica Lukes, Sophia's mother, said she was upset about the incident and that she was under the impression her daughter's meal balance was paid off.
"I think it's despicable," Lukes told The Salt Lake Tribune. "These are young children that shouldn't be punished or humiliated for something the parents obviously need to clear up."
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that school officials originally intended to withhold lunch from the students with a pending balance. However, officials did not learn about the balances until after the lunch period began.
The school issued an apology Wednesday explaining the situation and stating that it could have been handled differently. The post also acknowledges that the incident was an embarrassing situation.
"We understand the feelings of upset parents and students who say this was an embarrassing and humiliating situation. We again apologize and commit to working with parents in rectifying this situation and to ensuring students are never treated in this manner again," stated the apology.
District spokesman Jason Olsen told the Salt Lake Tribune that parents were notified of the negative balances on Monday, but some parents claim that they never received a letter or any notice indicating that there was a problem.
"Even if they did try to send the word out, you still don't do that to a child," Lukes told KSL-TV. "You don't take a lunch out of their hands."
Utah lawmaker, Todd Weiler, called the schools actions "bullying" and "an abuse of power.
"This person came into a school and used her power to humiliate and embarrass children and I think we ought to draw a line and say that's not acceptable behavior," Weiler said.
School officials admitted to their mistake, but have opened an investigation on whether parents were notified of low balances before this week.
