Liz Burke, WPRO News
Officials from Whitsons, the food company for Attleboro school district, held a news conference on Friday afternoon to apologize.
“As a family company, we can hardly imagine the shock and humiliation they felt and our primary focus at this time is to help restore the community’s faith in our ability to provide every child in the district with the meals they need.” Said Vice President of Community Relations for Whitsons, Holly Von Seggern.
Von Seggern says four people were found responsible for denying lunch to as many as 25 Coelho Middle School students on Tuesday.
The students were not given lunch or forced to throw it out if their pre-paid lunch cards had a negative balance or didn’t have enough on the card.
“The results of the investigation concluded that several individuals were acting outside of the district’s policy on handling pending balances for meal accounts. These individuals will be subject to disciplinary actions, including termination.” Said Vob Seggern.
The company will be providing free lunch for the students at the middle school next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. They will also host a BBQ for the school at a later date.
There is an on going investigation for this incident.
