Principal stopped school’s shaming free lunch kids with hand stamps, says it got her fired

[proud2BlibKansan]

A former principal at a charter elementary school in Colorado said that she was fired last year after she tried to force school officials to stop marking the hands of children who could not afford to buy lunch for full price in the cafeteria.

In an email sent to parents last November, Peak to Peak Charter School insisted that former principal Noelle Roni’s firing was not a form of retaliation after she claimed she had complained about a hostile work environment.

At the time, Roni had said that she refused to sign a buyout offer because “it would have put me in a position of not being able to explain myself to the community I love.”

“It would also prevent me from trying to undo the damage that continues to be waged on my reputation and character by the ongoing speculation,” she noted. “I believe that I was retaliated against for standing up for children’s rights and against activities that stigmatized children.”

more . . . http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/06/principal-stopped-schools-shaming-free-lunch-kids-with-hand-stamps-says-it-got-her-fired/

[SunSeeker]

1. Great woman. Wish there were more like her.

Unfortunately, the actions of the school will discourage others from standing up for kids like she did. I hope she kicks the school's ass in court.

[ScottyEss]

2. They're called Sharter Schools for a reason.

[Laffy Kat]

3. I been hesitant to post but I was a part of all this!

Worked there off and on for years while I was going to school. Both my kids go there. All the "lunch ladies" were moms at the school. The hours were perfect but, of course, the pay sucked. As a charter, P2P is a non-union school so both the faculty and staff were underpaid. Anyway, I know Ms. Roni and she was a wonderful principal. Like at the lunch ladies, I was instructed to stamp the kids' hands if they were low on funds. Worse yet, if the parents didn't come up with the money, their children would be given a cold cheese sandwich instead of the usual hot lunch. It is impossible to stamp discreetly and I always felt terrible about doing it so I would usually "forget" unless the manager was hovering. The manager left right before Roni and I suspect it had something to do with this falling-out. BTW, I think just about all Boulder Valley Schools use a stamp, it's not just P2P. Hopefully this will help stop the practice.

[JimDandy]

4. The parents are working on a recall

of 2 of the school's Board of Directors. This story was on Denver's CBS4 news tonight. Glad it's getting national attention, because this practice is so unfair.

[madaboutharry]

5. This is what is wrong with the world.

The person or people who seek to do the right thing are punished and fired and the jerks creating the problem still have their jobs.

[rhett o rick]

6. k&r thanks for posting. nm

[Jefferson23]

7. K&R for another brave soul fighting back:

“As soon as I saw it happening, I was like, ‘No, this is not OK,’” Roni said. “The students felt so humiliated, like they had done something wrong. They didn’t want to go into the lunchroom any more. It’s unethical and disrespectful.”

[warrant46]

8. +1

[CoreyAndrews]

9. Sad...

Sad that we live in a world where doing the right thing for the right reasons can get you fired.

[petson]

10. Right things get punished

Right things get tarred-and-feathered I mean to mention that the those who do right things during this world get laid-off from their senior as a result of he feared of you and from your sensible work.