Teacher who played Lunch Box Police Resigns

DHHS Officials Questioned by NC Lawmakers

From the Fay Observer:

RAEFORD – A West Hoke Elementary School teacher quit her job days after being suspended over a school lunch incident that gained national attention.

Margaret Maynor, a prekindergarten teacher, was suspended with pay on Feb. 23, according to Dr. Cheryl Benson, assistant superintendent of human resources. Maynor resigned five days later, Benson said.

Maynor was suspended after an investigation into a Jan. 31 incident in which three 4-year-old pupils ate chicken nuggets from the cafeteria rather than lunches they brought from home.

From the Carolina Journal:

RALEIGH — State lawmakers questioned a N.C. Department of Health and Human Services official at a hearing Tuesday to determine why a Hoke County preschooler’s homemade turkey sandwich was replaced with chicken nuggets.

Members of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services wanted to know if a teacher at West Hoke Elementary School was following state law when she offered a 4-year-old girl a cafeteria tray containing chicken nuggets, a sweet potato, bread, and milk as an alternative to her homemade turkey and cheese sandwich, potato chips, banana, and apple juice.

Deborah Cassidy, director of the DHHS Division of Child Development and Early Education, also was asked whether the cafeteria lunch provided to the 4-year-old was more nutritious then her homemade lunch and if the teacher (who has resigned from the school) should have faced any disciplinary action.

Cassidy told the committee that officials from the school and the school district have refused to discuss the matter with her.

Also, this:

“Are chicken nuggets deemed to be more nutritious than sliced turkey?” asked Sen. Louis Pate, R-Wayne.

“That’s beyond my expertise,” said Cassidy. “I’d be shooting in the dark on that one,” she added. “I don’t know.”

I don’t see a link for the full transcript of the hearing, but the article does not mention the Lawmakers asking why a teacher should be able to dig around in a child’s lunch in the first place.