Bonnie Kimball, a resident lunch lady at Mascoma Valley Regional High School, has been dedicated to her job for four years. On March 28th, she came across an underprivileged student who claimed that he could not pay for his meal that day. This meant that he would have to go through the rest of the school day without having a meal. Bonnie decided to let this boy pay for his lunch the next day and gave him a free meal. This act of kindness cost her job.
After getting fired from her position, she told her story on her social media accounts and it quickly spread like wildfire. Outrage by parents and other staff caused the school to take necessary action to prevent further defamation of the school’s name. Bonnie was offered her previous position as a lunch lady, however, she refused the offer. In an interview with Buzzfeed, she claimed that she was only offered the position to quiet the unwanted media uproar over her dismissal and in her own words, “They did not care about me then. Why would I help them now?” She expressed her concern over the attention her dismissal was given by the public and mentioned that her act of kindness was something anyone would have done in that situation.
Employees of Cafe Services are trained to avoid creating a scene if a student cannot afford to pay. Additionally, nearly a third of students in the Mascoma Valley district received free lunches. These lunches were enough to sustain them for the rest of the school day and included items such as milk, fruits, vegetables, and an entree. Other items such as chips, juices, or sports drinks are not included in the meal due to a lack of nutritional value.
Bonnie has been employed by Cafe Services, the school lunch vendor in the Mascoma Valley Regional School District. The vendor was hoping that their contract with the school district would be renewed, and it soon was. The company released a statement claiming that Bonnie has violated employee policies by giving the child a free meal.
This was enough grounds for termination, however, this incident brought another factor into question: morals and values. Would an employee truly let a child starve due to a lack of funds? Upon reflection of the situation and complaints by multiple parents of the school district, Superintendent Amanda Isabelle released a public statement to properly address the situation. She referred to the fact that while Bonnie violated employee guidelines, she also acted properly in the situation. She claimed that she had “become sufficiently convinced that it is wrong of us to assume that all the responsibility falls to the vendor,” and alluded to the fact that the school district must take action to protect their staff.
