Many parents rely on school lunch programs to provide their kids with nutritious meals throughout the school year. However, one mom says she paid thousands to cover the cost for her kids to participate in a lunch program but her kids only ate grilled cheese sandwiches all year.
In a viral video that gained 65,000 views as of this afternoon, TikToker Tenille Bain (@prettybullyy) ranted about the meals her kiddos were provided. She ultimately requested a refund.
@prettybullyy Yall dont think 188$ is alot for 18 grill cheeses???? This is why I hate dealing with people, you got 2K out of me and wont refund me 80$ for food my kids will NOT be eating. WEEKS in advance. #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Tenille
“Why does my son’s little lunch lady have me messed up?” she began her video.
She explained that her kids’ lunch program offered two payment option: Pay per day for meals or purchase a cheaper package with a standard rate for the entire month.
“I bought the program because you save like 70 cents per meal by buying the program,” she said.
She reported that the total to feed her two children was $180/month. After finding out that her children chose to eat grilled cheese every day, she questioned if it was even worth it.
“Two thousand dollars I have paid for this school lunch program and my kids have eaten grilled cheese the majority of the time,” she said.
She acknowledged the lunch menu had plenty of other meal options to choose from, but her children decided on the grilled cheese everyday anyway.
“They’re kids, it’s not her fault,” she explained.
However, she said the real problem arose when she decided to ask the cafeteria worker for a refund, because her kids would be missing 11 days of school out of the month for a family vacation.
“In this month, there are only going to be nine days that they are going to be eating lunch there,” she said.
So she wanted a refund for the money she prepaid to cover the cost of lunch for the month. The TikToker thought it was an especially fair request because her kids had only been eating grilled cheese sandwiches all year.
“I don’t want to spend another dollar on grilled cheese,” she argued.
But the cafeteria worker wasn’t having it. She outright refused to refund the single mom for the school lunch days her children would not be using.
Many TikTokers expressed support for the mom in the comments section.
“Speak to the principal and the school board,” one commenter suggested.
“I wouldn’t trust what the school gives them,” another commenter added. “Pack there lunch so much healthier.”
“Go off sis, you should get a full refund,” user DesireeHansen commented. “That’s ridiculous.”
In a follow-up video, Tenile told her viewers that the school’s principal reached out to her, but not to offer a solution to the lunch debacle.
“I know that you are not mentioning the school name but you need to remove this post from that site,” her kid’s principal allegedly emailed her.
The TikToker responded by outright refusing to do so.
“I respect you as an educator and the principal of my children’s school but you do not have jurisdiction over my social media,” she allegedly wrote.
This is not the first time complaints about school lunch programs have gone viral. One mom’s complaint that her child spent $60 on lunch in one day garnered her thousands of views online, and another parent received plenty of supportive comments after sneaking chicken nuggets into a school that banned outside food.
