Students were told that if they did not have cash or money in their account, they could either call a parent or borrow money from a friend, and they would certainly be able to eat, Oswald said.

"We were feeling very good about this," Oswald said. "The parents and kids have done a great job (in following through)."

Gaugler said she did not hear about it until the night her son came home and told her he had his lunch taken away.

"No letters were mailed to our home telling us that this new policy was enacted," she said. "Before, in the good old days, if your account was overdrawn, you could still eat and make up the amount due the next day.

"There are some people who work in the cafeteria and don't agree with this, but they had their orders," Gaugler said.

Said Oswald: "It's hard for me to picture that we threw the meal away."

Depending on what it is, anything reusable and sanitary is not tossed, he said. However, once a tray is passed to the student, the law says that the food should be thrown away because of health concerns.

Seven times of not paying for a meal and then being denied is understandable, Gaugler said.

But this was the first time, she said.

Federal regulations state that if a student doesn't have money three different times in a school year to pay for lunch, they can be denied a meal, Oswald said.

"We go well beyond that," he said.

The lunch service in the school district is a separate fund, not part of the general fund and not supported by local taxes, Oswald said.

"We're trying to be understanding," he said, especially in the economic downturn. "We're running a food service business, and we need lunch sales to pay our bills."

For the next school year, he said, a parent will be able to go online and check their student's account balance and purchase activity.

Superintendent Frederick Johnson declined to comment until he can research the issue. He did confirm that he received the complaint and forwarded it to Oswald.