The superintendent of the Shelby County school system broke his silence Friday on the firing of Avette Dunn, claiming inaccurate coverage of the lunchroom worker’s termination has led to harassment against school district staff.

Superintendent Dr. Lewis Brooks blamed news coverage and social media comments on the firing, saying Dunn was terminated for being untruthful about accepting donations intended to fund meals for students who could not afford them.

The Shelby County Board of Education voted Monday to terminate Dunn, who has worked at Shelby Elementary School for eight years.

“This situation has nothing to do with feeding students. Every student in every school has access to a nutritious breakfast and lunch during the school day,” Brooks said in a statement on the district’s Facebook page.

“This is not about someone being punished for trying to feed needy children. It is about an employee who solicited money that was not needed because the fund was not low. She was not truthful when questioned by her supervisor and a district supervisor.

“The news and social media responses have been extremely inaccurate. As such staff members that are doing their jobs are being verbally accosted by phone and email,” Brooks continued.

“While this story has generated a great deal of emotion, there is no resolution in threats and attacks. Personal research of Shelby County Schools, Alabama would clearly indicate that we are a district that works diligently to meet the needs of all students.”

Dunn pleaded to return to work during Monday’s school board meeting.

“I made a mistake and I think I should be able to go back to my job,” Dunn told officials. “In my opinion I think I should’ve been suspended for two weeks, but I’ve been off since October, but I don’t think I should get terminated just for not telling.”

According to a statement from the Alabama Education Association, Dunn accepted donations and placed them into an account designated for school meals. She did not misuse donations.

At Monday’s hearing, Shelby County officials said they decided to terminate Dunn because she was dishonest about the donations when questioned

The district’s statement on Friday said it normally does not comment publicly on personnel matters “to protect the integrity of all parties involved,” but made an exception in this case because of the harassment toward staff.