cafeteria workers reported boy was hungry, paid for his lunch until his stepmother found out and stopped them.

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People hold candles at the vigil held for Gavin Peterson



https://ksltv.com/664062/the-system-is-broken-cafeteria-worker-speaks-out-in-death-of-12-year-old-boy/

‘The system is broken’: Cafeteria worker speaks out in death of 12-year-old boy

WEST HAVEN — New details in the death of 12-year-old Gavin Peterson of West Haven.

Gavin’s father, stepmother and brother were arrested and accused of causing the boy’s death following years of abuse, including severe malnutrition.

Jan Davis, a school cafeteria worker at Kanesville Elementary School in West Haven, said she and other cafeteria workers grew concerned about Gavin a few years ago.

“He was small for his age, quite thin, they kept his hair buzzed and he often missed school,” Davis said.

Davis said she became acquainted with Gavin during the 2021-2022 school year and into the 2022-2023 school year.

“He would come and get a drink of water and then he would casually take his cup and throw it in the trash that was there where they dump their trays and then you would see him digging through the garbage,” Davis said. “At that point, if that little kid is hungry, I’m going to buy his lunch ticket.”


Davis said she and a coworker started paying for Gavin’s lunch, despite being “advised” by school officials not to do so because the school wanted to encourage families in hardship to fill out a form for reduced or free lunch.

Their efforts were abruptly halted when Gavin’s stepmother, Nichole Scott, found out, according to Davis.

“She was really upset and we were to stop paying for his school lunches. Because if she ‘wanted him to have school lunch, she’d pay for it,’” Davis said, adding that Nichole was furious and confronted school administrators. “When she found out there was money in his account and he was eating school lunch she said, ‘no more.’”

https://ksltv.com/664062/the-system-is-broken-cafeteria-worker-speaks-out-in-death-of-12-year-old-boy/