East Bay School District Hires Private Investigator In Attempt To Kick Girl Out After Denying Free Lunches
ORINDA (CBS SF) -- An East Bay school district that denied a Latina girl access to its free lunch program hired a private investigator in its attempt to kick the second grader out of the district for allegedly living outside its boundaries.
Seven-year-old Vivian lives with her mother, who is a live-in nanny in Orinda, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
The Orinda Union School District denied Vivian access to its free lunch program twice due to its own calculations of her mother's income, which they say was too high to qualify. They say her mother should have included the estimated cost of what she would pay for the room in the Orinda home in her reported income.
Because the district opted out of the federal lunch program, which would not have included housing cost in the calculated income requirement to qualify, it was able to deny Vivian access.
The district also hired a private investigator after questions about Vivian's main residence were raised.
"We have had prior instances where issues regarding a particular student's residency is questioned, and have before used a private investigator to help with the investigation required by our regulators," school board member Sarah Butler told the Mercury.
The district says it will allow Vivian to attend the school if her mother's employer becomes her caregiver, according to the newspaper.