Schools investigate after staff takes student’s lunch

The Wellington Exempted Village School District is investigating after a cafeteria staff worker took a lunch away from an eight-grade student.

The incident occurred during a Jan. 15 lunch period at McCormick Middle School, according to Ed Weber, the district’s superintendent.

Weber said apparently the eight-grader went through the lunch line, sat down and had the lunch taken away by the head cook who said the student hadn’t paid for it.

Weber said he has seen a video that appears to confirm the story.

“I sat down with the student involved (Jan. 16) to apologize; this should never have happened,” Weber said. “I told him it’s not the way we do things. It’s interesting, with kids, how forgiving they are, because he said it’s OK. I told him how much I appreciate him saying that, but I told him it’s not OK. I’m glad his father called us and told us what had happened.”

Weber said students are permitted a charge of $20 for lunch.

“If a student would go beyond this, you should tell the principal,” Weber said. “You should never take a student’s lunch. The employee has been placed on relief from his job as we continue to investigate. It appears a policy was violated. I want to make sure the employee goes through the system as we go through this process; I want to make sure we are as complete as possible.”

Weber said at the end of the investigation, the district will decide whether they will reinstate the employee.