Story Archive

The Repo Lunch Lady

Lunch workers at Uintah Elementary School took back 30 to 40 kids’ lunches — and threw them away — because their parents owed money to the cafeteria. Outraged parents called it humiliating, and the Salt Lake City, Utah, school district suspended the school’s cafeteria manager — which further outraged parents, who said the manager was being scapegoated for a decision made higher up. Lunch repossession had been attempted at another Salt Lake City school, but the principal and teachers had intervened. District officials issued a new policy promising a full lunch for every student who asks, and banning employees from discussing accounts with students. They also hired an independent investigator — but meanwhile, the district has put out a $49,999 request for bids from public relations firms to handle the media, and Uintah principal Chelsea Malouf has asked parents to stop speaking to the media. (AC/Salt Lake Tribune) ...If you’re part of the solution, she thinks, you’re part of the problem.