newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

John Robert Caravella goes to Cliffwood Elementary School in New Jersey from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. most days. During his fourth day of kindergarten, John Robert was not given lunch by the school cafeteria due to a “billing issue.”

The 5-year old Caravella is autistic. John Robert is not able to speak, and cannot communicate if he is hungry.

John Robert’s parents admitted that they did not understand the school’s lunch payment system, and owed a small amount of money for his lunches. Lunch is about $2.30 a day. According to Mail Online, John Robert came home with a note that read, "John Robert was not able to get lunch today he ate his muffins. There is an issue with an outstanding bill."

The parents quickly deposited money in their son’s account. John Robert’s mother, Silvia Caravella, e-mailed his teacher, the principal, and the superintendent. “The teacher wrote back saying now that our payment had been made, it wouldn’t happen again,” she said, according to the New York Daily News. “We were expecting a note apologizing, explaining. They could have picked up the phone.”

“He's in lunch, he's supposed to eat, why don't you make a phone call?" added his father, John Caravella, according to 7online.com.

The Caravellas did not attend an open house at the school due to what they called a “dismissive” response to the incident.

Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell from Bayonne called for an investigation by the New Jersey Department of Education after learning of the story, according to the Hudson Reporter.

O’Donnell said, “The fact that a 5-year-old sat hungry all day because a mistake was made and the people in charge didn’t bother to call his parents is inexcusable. It is our responsibility to make sure it never happens again."