Kindergartener Says School Didn't Let Her Eat

EL PASO - The parents of an Omar Bradley kindergartener say it was not an acceptable form of discipline. They say their daughter's teacher didn't let her eat lunch because she was a few minutes late to class. They even showed us her cafeteria account history that appears to back up their story.

"It really bothers me because I don't think it's fair not to feed her for a problem that she really can't control. I think it's really not fair for her," Manuel Bustamonte said.

Bustamonte says his daughter was late because his wife and other child were at the hospital with the family's only car.

"I'm pretty sure it's happened before, but parents really don't speak about it. So that's why I'm doing this, because I want to make sure that the right things are getting done."

The Bustamontes gave us permission to talk to their daughter, but they asked us to hide her face because on top of being disciplined she is now being made fun of by other kids.

"My friend Pedro was laughing at me because I didn't get any food," she said.

So is it acceptable for the EPISD to discipline a child by not allowing them to eat lunch? That's what we called them to find out. Here's what a district spokeswoman said, "Definitely not. No, that's not our policy whatsoever."

We're told the district is now investigating, and they have already met with the Bustamontes

"They're really not helping at all," Bustamonte said.

The family is now requesting their daughter be moved to a class with a different teacher. In the meantime, they don't want to let their daughter go to school, and they say they're angry the district punished their daughter by not allowing her to eat.

We'll continue to follow this story.