Noelle Roni Fired After Sticking Up for Less Fortunate Elementary Students
Colorado Principal Noelle Roni is considering filing a wrongful termination lawsuit against her former employer after insisting she was fired for opposing a school policy that alienated and isolated certain students.
Roni had been the principal of Peak to Peak Elementary School for more than eight years, but claims she was fired for voicing her opposition to a school policy that stamped students' hands who were unable to pay for school lunches so that they could be identified by servers in the cafeteria.
However, Roni stated that school administrators were not interested in her concerns.
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"The kids are humiliated. They're branded. It's disrespectful," Roni told CBS. "Where's the human compassion? And these are little children."
"I was shocked that their reaction was not outrage. That it was more of 'who are you to tell us not to do this?'" she added.
According to Roni, the program resulted in some children skipping the cafeteria all together to avoid the embarrassment and possible teasing by other students. Roni added that she was considering suing for her job back.
"If we have to, we'll file suit," she said. "When I see something that I feel harms children, I speak up."
Some parents at the school were upset over Roni's firing. They have organized the group Concerned Parents of Peak to Peak.
The group aims to "restore trust of our teachers and staff after [Roni's] abrupt termination."
"Regardless of whether Ms. Roni can be reinstated or not, members of this group want Peak to Peak to take steps to restore her reputation in the educational community, a reputation that has been unfairly tarnished by the events of this fall," the group wrote in its website.
Many students' parents objected to Roni's firing, claiming her termination resulted from inner-school politics.
"I feel she was bullied, and we want her back," one parent told CBS News.
