Students were denied lunch at a Massachusetts school because they couldn't pay for the food Tuesday.

As many as 25 students at the Coehlo Middle School couldn't afford the meals or their pre-paid cards had insufficient funds, school officials told the Associated Press (AP). Some students reportedly were forced to toss their food in the trash when they were rang up at the register.  

"There is no way any child in my school district will ever go hungry," Durkin told The Sun Chronicle on Wednesday. "Children need to eat."

The on-site director for the company, Whitsons Culinary Group of Islandia, N.Y., was placed on administrative leave by Superintendent Pia Durkin, who has also scheduled a meeting with company officials and ordered cafeteria workers not to deny any child food, the AP reported.

"We agree that this situation was not handled correctly," Whitsons spokeswoman Holly Von Seggern said. "We really want to apologize to the parents of the children who were affected."

Students who cannot pay or whose accounts are empty are supposed to be given a cheese sandwich and milk, but that procedure was not followed at Coelho, Durkin said. The students of the Coehlo Middle School were in the grades of 5-8.

Durkin said she was informed by Whitsons management that the total amount of outstanding credit on all students' accounts in the district comes to about $1,800.

Jen Ingemi, parent of a fifth-grader, told the AP that the girl behind her son in line began to cry when she was told to throw out her lunch. She said her son offered to share his lunch with the girl.

Victoria Graves, 11, said she and others were told to throw out their lunch since they couldn't afford to eat it. Her father was enraged with what happened Tuesday. "There are people in prison who are getting meals, my daughter, an honor student, is going hungry," he said.