A 12-year old middle school student in the Selinsgrove (PA) school district watched as school cafeteria workers took his lunch away from him and throw it in the trash because he did not have money in his account to pay for it. The student went without lunch. Under past policy, students who did not have enough money would get lunch on credit. But last week, the policy was changed to a "no pay, no lunch" policy. If a student didn't have money to pay, he or she would not eat.
The results were predictable. A 12-year-old without sufficient funds in his account had his tray taken away and the food thrown in the trash by a cafeteria worker. The next day the story was on the front page of the local newspaper. The headline: "Lunch worker Rejects Hungry Student."
In general, school districts are well known for being willing to admit mistakes, much less apologize.
So I'm delighted to tell you what Dr. Frederick C. Johnson, Superintendant of the Selinsgrove Area School District did. He apologized. And a beaut it is.
To say that the decision regarding the change in student lunch policy was a great mistake in administrative judgment is a huge understatement in any words imaginable. The administration of the Selinsgrove Area School District accepts full responsibility and blame for this error in judgment and wishes to not only apologize to the families and students involved, but also to the Board of Directors and the Selinsgrove community at large.
This decision was a community embarrassment brought on by this administrative decision. The lunch worker involved shares no culpability in this matter and was only following administrative directives. Immediately, the Selinsgrove Area School District will return to its previous policies. There are no explanations or excuses for not providing a child with a lunch. The position is simply indefensible. The complaints received from the various Selinsgrove publics are completely warranted. Again, the administration of the Selinsgrove Area School District wishes to apologize to all of those individuals involved in this matter.
Sincerely,
Dr. Frederick C. Johnson, Supt.
Selinsgrove Area School District
There is so much to admire about this apology. In terms of accepting--no, hoarding--responsibility, the apology is complete. Dr. Johnson goes out of his way to protect the lunch worker who implemented the policy. As for the policy, there is no defensiveness whatsoever. The criticism the school district received was deserved. The policy was "a mistake." Johnson recognized the damage caused by the policy. The remorse of the administrator is abundantly clear. The immediate decision to return to the district's previous policies is restitution enough. The apology might have included a promise not to repeat the behavior, but can you really promise not to make mistakes? I have reason to believe that Dr. Johnson supplemented this public apology with a personal apology to the student.
According to the local newspaper, the boy's mother said she was satisfied with the decision. "I do regret that the new lunch policy was allowed to be implemented in the first place, but also fully accept Dr. Johnson's apologies and agree with him that it is time to move forward."
Evaluation
Recognition: A
Responsibility A
Remorse: A
Repetition: N/A
Restitution: A
Overall Score: A
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