Kids balk at veggie burger, but Newton lunch lady suspended when she offers alternative

By Calvin Hennick
Globe Correspondent

A food services manager at a Newton elementary school said she was suspended this week for feeding students other items after they refused to eat the day's veggie burgers for lunch.

Kathleen Cunningham said she was suspended for an incident that occurred May 4, when Angier Elementary School received veggie burgers instead of the grilled cheese sandwiches that were on the menu.

When about seven or eight students refused to eat the veggie burgers, she said, she let them choose other lunch items, including a bagel lunch or a breakfast lunch.

The bagel lunch includes a bagel, cream cheese, fruit, vegetables, and cheese sticks. The breakfast lunch has cereal, yogurt, fruit, vegetables, and cheese sticks.

"Morally, can I let a kid go without a lunch when he’s telling me he’s not going to eat?” Cunningham said. “No, I’m not going to do that.”

Michael Cronin, chief of operations for the school district, would not comment on Cunningham’s case, saying the school system does not discuss personnel matters. He said the food ordering system is intended to give parents -- rather than school employees -- decision-making power of what children eat.

"We will respect the parent's decision,'' Cronin said. ''We’re not in the business of catering to a student’s whim if it’s contrary to what the parents ordered.’’

Like most Newton elementary schools, Angier lacks a full-service kitchen so meals are ordered in advance, prepared in a central location, and delivered to the school.

Faced with an expected deficit of nearly $1 million in food services next year, the Newton School Committee is considering whether to privatize the breakfast and lunch program — a possibility that has the roiled relations with the schools’ roughly 90 food service employees and their union.

Cunningham showed a Globe reporter a copy of a memo she received from Cronin.

The document says: “Notwithstanding that you have been repeatedly counseled regarding workplace standards and been given reminders regarding adherence to the food service program’s policies, you continue to refuse to implement food service policies and procedures. Furthermore, you have given no assurance that you intend to follow the procedures in the future.”

The missive says Cunningham will face further discipline if she continues to flout policy, up to and including dismissal.

Cunningham, who said she was told of her suspension Friday, said her union has already appealed the suspension.

She acknowledged she has been reprimanded for failing to follow the school’s policy on meal substitutions in the past. Asked if she would continue to violate the policy in the future, Cunningham said: “I can’t allow the child to go without a meal. If they come to me and tell me they’re hungry, I have to make sure they’re fed.”

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