2 fired after student forced to eat food from trash can, school district says

LORAIN, Ohio — Officials announced plans Thursday to fire the principal of Palm Elementary School and a paraprofessional after they determined that a fourth-grade student was forced to eat food from a cafeteria garbage can last month, according to the Lorain City School District and multiple reports.

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Superintendent Jeff Graham told the Lorain Board of Education that he planned to fire paraprofessional Monika Sommers-Fridenstine effective Thursday. He added that he removed principal Debra Pustulka from her position and planned to fire her. Under Ohio law, she has 10 days to appeal the decision.

“Any infringement upon the dignity and respect of our students will not be tolerated,” Graham said in a statement. “Our students deserve staff members who are able to make good decisions in all situations — and any staff member who is unable to deliver on that promise is unwelcome in our schools.”

Officials said they reviewed surveillance footage from the cafeteria as part of their investigation. It was launched after a parent reported that her daughter was forced to get food out of a cafeteria garbage can and eat it, according to the school district.

In a lawsuit subsequently filed in federal court and obtained by WJW and WOIO, the child’s mother said her daughter asked for another meal on Nov. 21 because she “did not like the waffles” she was eating. The principal told the girl to eat what was on her tray, but the student ignored her and threw the food in the trash, according to the lawsuit. Another employee then told the girl to get the food out of the trash and forced her to eat the waffles in front of her classmates, the lawsuit alleges.

Graham, who said he has been in touch with the student’s family since learning of the incident, emphasized Thursday that it “in no way demonstrates who we are as a district.”

“We have phenomenal people doing great work in our schools each and every day,” he said. “We will not let the actions of two people define us when there are so many wonderful things happening in our classrooms, schools and community.”

Pustulka became principal at Palm Elementary School in 2008, according to a biography posted on the Lorain City Schools website. Before that, she taught students in several school districts and served as an administrator at Garfield Elementary, General Johnnie Wilson Middle School and Larkmoor Elementary in the Lorain City School District.

No immediate replacement for Pustulka was announced. On Thursday, officials said the school district was working to find a new principal for the school.

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