The anonymous school official who was playing Lunchbox Police and dispatching tots lunches at West Hoke Elementary in North Carolina has been named and suspended.

They school seems to be saying they weren’t wrong in following the guidelines by giving her a tray and I don’t see an apology here to the child or the family either. In fact, this looks like the school covering it’s rear and the mom of the child in question is giving the officials a pass by blaming the government. She’s right to blame the government for the intrusion, but giving this teacher and the school a pass? They used zero judgement and played out a scene from “1984”.

Carolina Journal reports:

From A letter to parent: “As I am sure you are aware, we recently experienced an unfortunate situation where a failure to follow district policy resulted in the substitution of a Pre-K student’s lunch at West Hoke Elementary School.This letter is to inform you that Ms. Emma Thomas will be a substitute in [your child’s] classroom until we can bring resolution to this issue. We are pleased that [your child] is enrolled in our Pre-K program and we are confident that Ms. Thomas will continue to provide [him or her] with a very positive educational experience.”

The mother of the 4-year-old girl whose turkey sandwich was replaced by chicken nuggets says the teacher is not to blame and shouldn’t be punished.

“We are concerned for Ms. Maynor [the teacher] and want her back in the classroom, as she was only following guidelines,” the mother wrote in an email to her state representative, Republican G.L. Pridgen of Robeson County. “It’s the government that needs to be reprimanded and changed. Teachers should not be put in a situation to overrule the parent’s lunch of choice.”

Giving the girl a full cafeteria tray, which included chicken nuggets and milk, was not a violation of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ policy, according to DHHS spokeswoman Lori Walston.

“The rules require that the provider at least ensure the missing items are offered,” Walston wrote in an earlier email exchange with CJ. “It would not be a violation for a child to be provided more than what was needed. It is the provider’s choice as to their specific process.”

It is unclear why giving the girl the cafeteria tray violated “district policy.”

I’m sure it didn’t violate their policy, but chucking the kid’s perfectly fine lunch should.