When Rapid Repo and Collections learned that a first grader was told to eat his lunch all by himself because his parents dropped him off at school just one minute late, they wanted to make sure that the boy would always get to school on time in the future.
The business based in Oregon found out about the 6-year-old schoolboy’s ordeal after his story was shared on Facebook by his mother who felt that the school, Lincoln Elementary School in Grants Pass, Oregon had gone too far when it comes to punishing students.
According to Hunter Cmelo’s parents, Nicole Garloff and Mark Cmelo, the boy was late because their car was old and unreliable.
In her post, Hunter’s grandmother, Laura Hoover, decided to call for attention toward the school into changing its policy on publicly humiliating students.
Hunter was even pictured having to have his lunch behind “a screen” alone at a table while his friends ate at other tables.
To his right, there was a cup written with a capital D which meant “Detention”.
“This is my grandson, Hunter. He’s a little first grader. His momma’s car sometimes doesn’t like to start right up. Sometimes he’s a couple of minutes late to school,” Laura wrote.
“Yesterday, he was 1 minute late and this is what his momma discovered they do to punish him! They have done this to him 6 times for something that is out of this baby’s control! They make a mockery of him in front of the other students!”
“The principal is responsible for this. His mom found him there, crying, and took him home for the day. Anyone want to help me flood this lady principal with calls telling her how inappropriate this is?”
The unfair punishment has emotionally scarred the boy and left him anxious about attending school.
Hunter is not able to ride the school bus because he lives in close proximity to school but he cannot walk either as the road is too busy.
Following the incident, Rapid Repo and Collections donated a $30,000 Chrysler minivan to the family so that the boy would never be late to school again.
“When I handed dad Mark the key to the minivan, he was speechless and extremely grateful,” McClease Kelly, who organized the generous donation said.
In light of the punishment, the school principal has reached out to Hunter’s parents and the school has agreed to stop using the practice of separation as punishment.
Watch the full report here.
Credit: Viral Spell
