A Missouri dad outraged at the gall of his daughter’s teacher for criticizing the lunch he packed her as “unhealthy” turned around and derided the Kirksville Primary School as Big Brotherish — and posted on Facebook the scolding letter he received.
It read: “Dr. and Mrs. Puckett — The cafeteria reported to me that Alia’s lunch today included 4 chocolate bars, a bag of marshmallows, Ritz crackers and a pickle. Please see that she packs a proper lunch tomorrow,” the Daily Mail reported.
The bottom of the letter, beneath the teacher’s signature, read: “Parent Signature requested,” the news outlet reported.
But dad Justin Puckett, who’s also a doctor, instead wrote in that signature space, “Request Declined.”
The father said he was most upset by the tone of judgment in the letter. But he was also upset that the lunch information was wrong. The Daily Mail reported the girl’s lunch actually contained four pieces of ham.
Dr. Puckett — who received a telephone apology from the school principal, Tricia Reger — explained the full contents of the lunch, to ABC 3: “The letter didn’t have what she had, correctly. She had four pieces of ham, a whole protein meat. She also had some pickles, which we admittedly cheat on pickles every once and a while as a vegetable, because some fights just aren’t worth having. She also had four marshmallows in a Ziploc bag and then she had three very small pieces of chocolate, of which she ate one for lunch and then she also gave her brother and another friend one at an after school program.”
Dr. Puckett, who is the medical director of the Complete Family Medicine clinic in Kirksville, said he is offended at the challenge to his parental rights and the questioning of his knowledge of healthy foods.
“It just seems that we are constantly being inundated with the inability to be parents of our children,” he said, ABC 3 reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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