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Parents and commissioners tell Benton County board students pressured to take school meals; speakers raise bullying and misconduct concerns
Summary
Multiple speakers at the Benton County Board of Education meeting urged the board to address cafeteria practices they say pressure students to take meals and to investigate broader allegations of bullying and sexual misconduct. Speakers requested a board response at the next meeting.
Several parents, guardians and two county commissioners addressed the Benton County Board of Education during the public-comment period, saying students have been pressured in the cafeteria to take meals they do not want and that some children were threatened with disciplinary action for refusing food.
Jerry Price, who identified himself as a county commissioner and said he and his wife are legal guardians of a student, said his grandson was told by a teacher's aide that he "must go through the serving line, take food" and was told that if he did not comply he would be sent to the principal's office and would "not be able to attend the basketball…
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