Posts Tagged ‘Noelle Roni’

You Can’t Have Your Lunch and Eat it Too

February 1, 2014

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flpEEEGTbhc

Imagine ripping lunches away from students because after serving them they found that their parents haven’t yet settled the cafeteria bill. One second the children have their lunch tray, the next they have been confiscated and are ordered to take an orange instead.

The school now apologises for this, but sometimes a sorry isn’t good enough. Sometimes you have to reflect on what they were thinking to rationalise taking lunch from hungry children. Their actions caused embarrassment, made children go hungry, caused needless food wastage and made children responsible for an issue that had nothing to do with them.

Earlier this week, school officials threw out the lunches of up to 40 students at Uintah Elementary School because of unpaid balances on students’ meal accounts, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. After having their lunches discarded, the children were instead given milk and fruit.

According to the outlet, officials intended to withhold lunches from indebted students. However, because district employees did not learn who owed money until after lunch was served, they ended up taking back those lunches from students and throwing them out.

“So she took my lunch away and said, ‘Go get a milk,’” fifth-grader Sophia Isom told Utah outlet KSL-TV of what happened. “I came back and asked, ‘What’s going on?’ Then she handed me an orange. She said, ‘You don’t have any money in your account so you can’t get lunch.’”

Erica Lukes, Sophia’s mother, says she is outraged over the incident, and that she was previously under the impression that Sophia’s lunch balance had been paid.

“I think it’s despicable,” Lukes told The Salt Lake Tribune. “These are young children that shouldn’t be punished or humiliated for something the parents obviously need to clear up.”

On Wednesday, the district posted an apology on its Facebook page. The apology notes that officials are investigating “what type of notification parents may or may not have received prior to this week.”

The meek apology just proves that they completely missed the point.

Click on the link to read How Many Teachers Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb? (Part 1)

Click on the link to read Girl Faces Expulsion for Being a Victim of Bullying

Click on the link to read Cancer Sufferer Claims she was Banned from Daughter’s School Because of her “Smell”

Click on the link to read Top 10 Most Unusual School Bans

Click on the link to read Rules that Restrict the Teacher and Enslave the Student

When Standing Up for Your Students Gets You Fired

January 11, 2014

 

prin

If this Principal got fired for doing nothing more than trying to end a humiliating policy, the decision makers involved should be banned from ever being involved with school policy again:

A former Colorado charter school principal is claiming she was terminated from her job after attempting to halt a practice that embarrassed students.

Noelle Roni was the principal of Peak to Peak Elementary School for more than eight years before being abruptly fired last November. Roni says that higher-ups at the school became angry with her when she demanded that cafeteria workers stop stamping the hands of children who did not have enough money in their account to pay for lunch, according to CBS Denver.

Although the charter school is allowed to set its own policies, other schools in the Denver area notify parents when students do not have money for lunch, rather than stamping their hands, according to Colorado outlet the Daily Camera. Roni reportedly was told that some children were too embarrassed to go through the lunch line because of the practice.

“The kids are humiliated. They’re branded. It’s disrespectful. Where’s the human compassion? And these are little children,” Roni said to CBS Denver.

An attorney for the school, Barry Arrington, told CBS Denver that Roni’s claims were “baseless.” However, he would not go into more detail about the matter.

Some parents at the school were upset over Roni’s firing. Following her dismissal, the parents organized a group, Concerned Parents of Peak to Peak, which says it works to “restore trust of our teachers and staff after [Roni’s] abrupt termination.” The group also hopes to recall two school board members for their handling of the firing.

“Regardless of whether Ms. Roni can be reinstated or not, members of this group want Peak to Peak to take steps to restore her reputation in the educational community, a reputation that has been unfairly tarnished by the events of this fall,” says the group’s website.

While these school officials bicker, kids in need still go without. If this story angered you, check out Feeding America’s Backpack Program to help provide meals for families who can’t afford enough food.

 

Click on the link to read Girl Faces Expulsion for Being a Victim of Bullying

Click on the link to read Cancer Sufferer Claims she was Banned from Daughter’s School Because of her “Smell”

Click on the link to read Top 10 Most Unusual School Bans

Click on the link to read Rules that Restrict the Teacher and Enslave the Student

Click on the link to read This is What I Think of the No Hugging Rule at Schools