Lunch debt fiasco: Wellington cafeteria worker took food from child who owed $6

WELLINGTON — A cafeteria worker's actions are being investigated after she confiscated a McCormick Middle School student's lunch over a $6 debt. "Not only took it while he was eating. Did it in front of the whole cafeteria," said the student's parent, Brian Babb, in a social media post that led to outrage among Wellington residents. "So then I go to pay it. And ask why they thought that was appropriate. And they want to smirk and smile about it." There were no denials, no excuses, no dodges offered up by school district Superintendent Ed Weber. "This is not the kind of organization we want to run. It is outside our operating procedures and we will make sure appropriate action is taken," he said. "My heart's broken over it." Weber confirmed that Babb's complaint on social media was accurate. Babb later posted that he met with school staff and saw a video of the incident occur. Weber said a McCormick cafeteria cashier let the student get a lunch and head toward a table. That's when another employee committed what Weber called "a flagrant violation" and took the food out of the child's hands, he said. "She shouldn't have taken the lunch and she shouldn't have responded to other students about another student's finances," Weber said. "Sometimes employees do things by accident and you can coach them through it. But in this case, I'm totally disappointed in how the staff member acted." The Wellington Board of Education adopted a policy two years ago that allows students to incur $20 in cafeteria debt. When that happens, the student is supposed to get three additional meals, and then there's a reserve fund that can be used to help them cover the cost of lunch, Weber said. At that point, the principal is supposed to step in and find out what can be done to help. Calls to McCormick Middle School seeking comment from Principal Nathan Baxendale were not answered. The district has been having problems with its phone system. Weber said the food policy was not followed even though all cafeteria workers get a copy of the meal policy at the beginning of the year. An investigation into the cafeteria worker's conduct was launched Wednesday. Weber said Thursday that he anticipates disciplinary action for the employee. That could be anywhere from a letter of reprimand to termination, he said. "I felt terrible. I met the (student) for lunch today, apologized to him and went up to the lunch line with him to clear his account," Weber said. Someone had beaten him to it — the child's $6 debt had been zeroed out already. "He's an extremely nice young man. Kids are quick to forgive, which is the great thing about kids," Weber said. But when the boy tried to assure him the situation was OK, Weber replied that it wasn't — that the schools let him down, and the adults in the situation had been wrong. Offering a full mea culpa, Weber said many other parents' complaints posted to social media after Babb's post were sadly accurate as well. Carissa Nelisse, who is the mother of a Wellington fourth-grader, said her son also had his lunch taken away this week over a debt of about $10. She said she sent her son to school with $4 to partially pay down his debt. But McCormick cafeteria staff allegedly took the money and told the student he was eligible only for a carton of milk and a cheese sandwich. Nelisse said he took the milk but refused the sandwich "for obvious reasons." He asked to call his mother to get either the money to cover the rest of the debt or a lunch from home but was told he could not leave the cafeteria, Nelisse said. "I don't think there's ever an excuse to deny a child a meal," she said. "I'm human. I'm a mom of three. I forgot my son was negative on his account. That's not his issue or his fault, and the school could have handled this in an entirely different way that would not have had him go hungry the entire day." Nelisse is a former Wellington student. She said she remembers lunches being taken away from students when she attended middle school there in the early 2000s. "So this isn't a new policy. This is an ongoing issue," she said. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.