A cafeteria worker in an Idaho middle school said she was fired for giving a free meal to a student who told her she was hungry and didn’t have money to pay for it, The Idaho Statesman reported Wednesday.
Human resources for Irving Middle School in Pocatello sent Dalene Bowden a termination letter that stated she was fired for stealing school district property and for inaccurate transactions in serving food, according to the report.
Bowden told the newspaper that she offered to pay $1.70 for the 12 year-old student’s meal, but her supervisor declined the money.
The school had already given her one warning for giving a student a free cookie, Bowden added.
A district school board member declined to comment to the newspaper on Bowden’s termination.
An online petition already has garnered thousands of signatures to get Bowden reinstated. Bowden also launched a GoFundMe account to raise funds to obtain a lawyer.
