Student refused lunch after being short 15 cents

ORANGE CITY, Florida -- A mother in Florida is demanding answers after she says a high school cafeteria refused to give her daughter lunch on the first day of school.

"She puts her food on the tray, gets to the front, gives her number to the cashier and she says, 'well, you owe 15 cents.' And she said she didn't have any money. So the cashier took her food," mother Kimberly Aiken said.

The student says she went the entire day at University High School without eating.

"That's the big thing, eating breakfast and eating lunch so they can make sure that they're doing good on their work. But then you starve my child," Aiken said.

WKMG contacted the district and asked them if refusing lunches over 15 cents would be standard practice.

Spokesperson Roger Edgcomb said, "The school is always willing to work with students and families as needed. The school will be contacting the family directly to help resolve this issue."

Aiken's daughter says she brought a quarter to the cafeteria the next day to make up for the shortage, but the cafeteria worker told her that her expenses had been taken care of.