Idaho cafeteria worker who was fired for giving free lunch is offered

10 years ago

I thought, I start a new thread, so it might be seen, rather than post on the first post about this dilemma.

Moni

The cafeteria worker who said she was fired from an Idaho middle
school for giving a hungry student a free lunch was offered her job back
on Christmas Eve.

The Pocatello/Chubbuck School District released a
615-word statement detailing its role in the community and the
importance of nutrition before revealing at the end that Dalene Bowden
could return to work.

Bowden said a 12-year-old Irving Middle School student didn't have any money to pay for the hot lunch. The cost: $1.70.

The district had placed Bowden on leave Dec. 15 before deciding to fire her earlier this week, she said.

Part of the school district's lengthy statement
released Thursday reads, "During this holiday season, emotions and
feelings abound in the spirit of giving and looking after the needs of
others." It continues, "Our District focuses on the success of every
student and recognizes nutrition is an important part of each student’s
education and learning."

Finally, the last sentence ends, "The District has
been in communication with Ms. Bowden extending an opportunity for her
to return to employment with the District."

There was no immediate comment from Bowden about whether she'd return to work.

Tens of thousands of people had rushed to her defense. A petition supporting Bowden racked up more than 38,000 online signatures as of Wednesday.

"Lunch room policies should prioritize kindness and
making sure kids recieve a nutritious lunch so they can be ready to
learn," supporter Raushelle Guzman wrote in the petition, calling for
the district to let Bowden return to work.

Students are allowed to charge up to $11.00, but
workers can still give them some food if they exceed that limit,
according to reports.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/12/24/idaho-cafeteria-worker-fired-for-giving-hungry-student-free-lunch.html?intcmp=hpbt4

Featured Answer

rgreen48

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

Okay, I know that in the face of a 'good' outcome my cynicism will stand out even more than normal, but I just have to comment on at least one glaring point of contention...

From the school district's statement: "During this holiday season, emotions and
feelings abound in the spirit of giving and looking after the needs of
others."

Lol... does this mean that if it were any other time of year the worker would still be canned, and the child should have gone hungry? What duplicitous, self-serving politicians! They fire the woman when they think she's a public relations problem, and want to hire her back when they are under fire for their callousness. First, they made her the scapegoat, then they make her their savior. It's all too familiar! These 2-faced people really show the hypocrisy of our world. As a group, they don't have a shred of courage to have: first, their own well-founded sense of values; and second, the strength of character to lay the blame of their mistake on themselves where it belongs!

They use false morality to indict the worker for theft of $1.70 to feed a 12 year old child, then put the impetus on a 'spirit of giving'! I hope every person uses this as one more example to understand what spirit is moving people of this world in all seasons!

I have little doubt that these people all consider themselves Christians. Which are those who would have walked right past the 'injured man on the side of the road'? And, not to say this was theft at all - but even if it were - which of these have any concept that, while requiring compensation, even God's word forgives the stealing of food.

Is this religious element relevant? It is when these people invoke a so-called Holiday to substitute for ethics and reason. Greedy, heartless, self-serving, myopic... !!!!! Ugh... that's enough... it's absolutely maddening!

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Comments (9)

User
10 years ago
That's great.. I just love when the community bands together like that for a cause and it actually makes a difference!
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User
10 years ago
While I couldn't agree with you more rgreen sometimes we have to keep focus on the better parts of the situation. The woman got her job back and the school authorities, no matter how they slice it has egg on their faces AND this situation will hopefully bring some change to some policies that obviously need to be addressed.

btw, rgreen, I absolutely loved your input on the topic in both threads, brilliantly put.
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lindaohnowga
10 years ago
rgreen48, your first paragraph says it all and I agree completely
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Lindsey_CA
10 years ago
In the original thread, Moni had written, "I was working in schools in the inner city, were a lot of poverty level families live. If you are in an lower income bracket, you can qualify for a free lunch. ALL breakfast are free. We had three tiers. Free, reduced, and full pay students. The free was the BIGGEST group."

My nephew is now 29 years old, so it has been quite some time since he was in school. When he was in school, he qualified for free lunches because his mother is a disabled, low-income single mother. The "free lunch program" is still in existence today. If the girl in the original story truly cannot afford to pay for lunch, even the small amount of $1.70, she would qualify for the FLP and wouldn't need to be pleading for free food from any of the cafeteria workers. As JemDandy said (also in the original thread), "I don't think this was about a single $2 event. The management could not allow a precedent to develop that free food is available if you 'work the system'. If they allowed this for one student, they would have to permit it for any student else they could be cited for favoritism." Kids in middle school range in age from about 12 to about 15. They can be very clever. One kid can score a free meal by telling a cafeteria worker that he/she has no money, then that kid tells his/her friends, who try it the next day or a couple of days later, and pretty soon there will be a whole mess of kids pleading for food from the cafeteria workers. Don't think it wouldn't happen.

SeniorGal had commented (also in the original thread), "Seems to me that we need to know WHY the child needed a free lunch." I completely agree. If the child is from a family that cannot afford to pay for a hot lunch, the child would qualify for the FLP and wouldn't need to be cajoling a cafeteria worker into giving food for free. If the child had lunch money at the beginning of the day, but spent it on junk from the vending machines, should she be rewarded for her poor choices? (Maybe she still had the money in her pocket but didn't want to spend it on lunch, preferring to save it for something else.)

As had been pointed out by other folks, the food was not the cafeteria worker's to give away. Also, in the OP of this thread, Moni included, "Students are allowed to charge up to $11.00, but workers can still give them some food if they exceed that limit, according to reports." I'm wondering the child at the center of this controversy had already charged $11 worth of food and was still asking for more free food.

Yes, it's a shame (and to some folks, a crime) to throw away extra food at the end of the day. But that's not something that's going to be changed unless the school district's policy changes. That's something to be brought up at school board meetings. And food that has been allowed to sit out for an extended period of time would be deemed unsafe and shouldn't be given away to anyone to consume.

This is such a hot-button issue because it involves food and children. Would your reaction have been the same if the story had been about a Post Office employee giving free stamps to a customer because the customer couldn't otherwise mail her Christmas cards?

A final comment... The cafeteria worker is described in the original article as a "server." The people who are serving/handling food cannot handle money (because money is filthy). So, there would be another worker who was the cashier. Also, the story says that the server "handed the girl the food and told her they'd take care of it in a minute." The server did not offer to pay for the food until after she had been busted by her supervisor. The implication in this is that the server handed the student the food, and then had the student go directly to a table to eat, without going past the cashier. The server didn't tell the cashier, "It's okay, I'll pay for it as soon as I can take a break and get to my purse," nor did the cashier take money out of her own pocket and give it to the child to take to the cashier. So that implies that the server knew what she was doing was against policy.
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rgreen48
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
And there it is... Wrapped up in 90 rational sounding defenses of a policy.

Looks good on paper. Has everything except a humane understanding that a 12 year old girl didn't have enough money to buy lunch. "I'm not going to let those wily kids trick me into having a heart! I'm going to defend the system until..."

Lol... this is the world we live in, to some, this is the spirit to be defended.

There is no doubt that the information with which we are presented does not tell the entire story, but any community that can't find a way to feed any child - on any day - has serious issues. All of these "what if" scenarios aside, if you really think a person deserves to be fired over a, one-time, $1.70 breaking of policy, then I thank you for the reminder of why I do my best to be 'no part of this world'!

How do I know it's a one time thing? Because if it hadn't, it would have been included in the District's statement, and they wouldn't have hired her back!

At the core of this is a 12 year old girl. Does a 12 year old deserve to be sent to the rest of her classes hungry because she might have made bad choices? Is a 12 year old that responsible? There are so many things that have might have been... her mom or dad may have forgotten. Her Grandparents may have died. Her dog might have ate it. A bully could have stolen it... on and on...!

This is $1.70 that a woman let go and may have intended to pay. Even if she didn't, is she that bad of a person that she deserves to lose her job over it???

I'm sorry, but you can keep your robotic defense of an inhumane system!
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rgreen48
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
I'm sorry, I get worked up sometimes and forget myself...

Lukkiirish, thank you for you kind words. You are right. It's always best to focus on the positives.

lindaohnowga, thank you. I just can't stand when children are swept up in so-called policy debates. There's a quote is attributed to President Lincoln, but there is no real evidence he said it... in any case, it's still a good adage:

"I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it."

In this case... substitute system, policy, or way of life for 'religion' - and children for 'dog and cat'.
OklaMoni thanked rgreen48
User
10 years ago
Lindsey not all states have the same policies...you're thought process however does not surprise me in the least...same oh same oh
Lindsey_CA
10 years ago
And your meanness, irish, doesn't surprise me in the least. From now on, please don't click "like" on any of my posts. I am notified each time, in case you didn't realize it.

Idaho cafeteria worker who was fired for giving free lunch is offered

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