(RNN) – A Florida mom says her daughter had to do without lunch the first day of school because she was 15 cents short.
Kimberly Aiken’s daughter is a sophomore at University High School in Orange City, about 30 miles north of Orlando.
The incident happened Tuesday 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,'" Aiken told WKMG. "My daughter said she didn't have any money, so the cashier took her food."
Aiken said the cashier then threw the food away.
The family has applied for the free and reduced-cost lunch program, but it hasn’t begun yet.
The account deficit was apparently carried over from last year.
"That's the big thing -- it's eat breakfast, lunch, so that they can make sure that they're doing good on their work," she said. "But then you starve my child?"
Volusia County Public Schools spokesman Roger Edgcomb said the school will directly contact the family to resolve the issue.
"The school is always willing to work with students and families as needed," he said.
"You want to make sure that your kids are coming to school, and they're going to be taken care of," Aiken said.
"We already have all of the scary things happening, but the one thing you don't want them to worry about is are they going to be able to eat when they go to lunch."
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