The cafeteria worker who was fired because she gave a free meal to a student in New Hampshire is now being accused of lying.
Bonnie Kimball’s story of being fired made national headlines, but now, reports are saying that she sent the 17-year-old boy messages on Facebook.
What’s more, the student hadn’t been charged for food over the past three months, he said.
“I feel like this whole thing has just gotten out of control,” the boy’s mother told the paper.
She allegedly told him to pay his $8 tab since the manager saw her give him free food.
“We will prolly get written up, but we can make it look good. Lol,” Kimball told him, NECN reported. She later told the student that she was fired.
“I am on World News right now flying to New York to meet some famous football players,” Kimball also wrote.
Kimball told NECN that she wouldn’t comment on the messages, saying that “they might be about something else.”
In another message, according to NBC News, after she was terminated from her job, she allegedly asked the student if he and his classmates could speak to reporters about the incident.
“What kind of an adult says that to a child?” the mother said of the Facebook messages, according to the newspaper.
As to why she allegedly gave the boy free food, Kimball said that she allowed the student to charge to other student accounts, including one belonging to his girlfriend, because he’s a popular “jock,” the paper reported.
The mother also denied that the teen is a poor student, saying he should pack a lunch for school.
“I have three children, and they are all well-cared for and well-fed,” the mother told the Union-Leader. “She did not get fired for feeding a hungry child.”
“My child is paying when he goes through the lunch line, every time he goes through the lunch line,” the mother also stated, adding that she doesn’t understand why she gave him free food.
Last week, Mascoma Valley Superintendent Amanda Isabelle sent out a statement, saying that she rescinded an offer to re-hire Kimball after speaking to the student’s mother and finding out about the messages she had allegedly sent to the teen.
“(I)n light of information recently brought forward by a parent, the school district is rescinding its demand that the employee be rehired,” Isabelle said to the Union-Leader.
Isabelle noted that there was been an overwhelming amount of media attention in light of the incident.
“We have been overwhelmed by a crush of national and international media interest in this incident, but I do not believe we have yet seen a full and complete retelling of the facts,” Isabelle said. “Therefore, we will compile a thorough report on this investigation, and we will make the findings of the independent investigator public. The public, especially our 1,200 families and the thousands of citizens of the communities we serve, deserve nothing less.”
