A mother is furious as her son went "without his lunch" because he was in debt on his school meal account.
The parent, who wishes to remain anonymous, said her son was left "humiliated" at Bramhall High School in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
Staff refused to serve him a plate of pasta after his account, used to help families with a lesser income to assist with subsidised meals, was £4.05 in debt.
The school, which caters for more than 1,000 pupils, said it followed its policy.
The mum told Manchester Evening News : "At lunchtime he got to the till, he had picked his pasta and put it on the tray.
"She then said 'you're in debt' then went off to speak to someone else about what they should do, then came back and said no to him having the food as he’d not paid.
"I was just appalled. It really upset me, and I couldn’t believe that nobody gave me a call or asked if I was struggling - what would have happened if I was struggling financially, would he have been refused again?"
The boy was offered a sandwich but, as he doesn't eat butter, he declined.
And his mother, from Stockport, wonders if the situation has "happened a lot" with other pupils.
She continued: "My question is, even with no Covid, do they give somebody else the food, or just throw it away?
"If they are giving it away, especially with Covid about, there is cross contamination, or are they deliberately not feeding a child. Was it an oversight?
"What if I owed more, would my child go without food for another day? I just couldn't believe it. "
England footballer Marcus Rashford, 24, last year championed a campaign for free school meals for children during the school holidays and has since been awarded an MBE for his work to tackle child poverty.
The forward, who himself grew up in Greater Manchester, forced Boris Johnson into a U-turn over providing free meals for vulnerable children.
But the schoolchild's mum feels his work has gone in vain.
"I just find it shocking, especially since Marcus Rashford has done so much to make sure children don’t go without food," she added.
"What if it was in debt by £30? I worry to think about what will happen with parents who are struggling financially and not able to claim the school meals."
Bramhall High School, which Ofsted deemed to "require improvement" after its last inspection, is in a suburban area south of Stockport, popular with young families.
A representative from the school said: "The school has a policy in place when an account goes into debit.
"As the parent has said, on this occasion a sandwich was offered as an alternative, in line with our policy, and this was refused."
