By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
A school threw away a student's lunch because she was did not have enough money to pay for it. Her mother was horrified to find out that her 14-year-old daughter went the entire day without eating because was 70 cents short of the $1.75 price. The mother who did not want to be identified said her daughter attends Stevens High School, in Leon Valley, Texas.
'My daughter didn't get to eat food, and they threw it in the trash over 70 cents,' she said. The girl filled up her tray with food and went to pay - but when it was found out she did not have enough funds her lunch was taken away and thrown in the bin, reported news station WOAI. The problem occurred because the girl's lunch account had gone too low. Usually when it is empty the money automatically transfers from her checking account. But, in this incident there was a one-day delay, leaving the account in the student's account too low to cover the food items on her tray.
Northside Independent School District Spokesman Pascual Gonzalez said the school staff acted correctly.
He said the district’s cafeteria policy is very clear. 'The policy says that there is no charge account that's built in, either have the money to pay for your food or you're not going to eat, ' said Mr Gonzalez.. He explained that the school were required to throw the food away. 'I know it sounds terrible, I totally get that, but the law states we cannot take that same food and put it back in the for sale line, ' added Mr Gonzalez. He argued that last year the district's unpaid charges totaled almost $27,000.
In the district elementary students can charge lunch up to five times, middle school students are allowed one charge, and high school students are not allowed to charge food.
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Texas lunch lady throws student's food in trash because student was 70 cents short for meal payment
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