WEST CANAAN — A report commissioned by the Mascoma Valley Regional School District says food vendor Cafe Services “acted appropriately” by firing cafeteria worker Bonnie Kimball this past spring.

Kimball made a “conscious decision not to follow policy” when she failed to charge a Mascoma High student for lunch and several additional items — including an order of fries, two packages of cookies and a Powerade — on March 28, according to the report released Tuesday evening.

Investigators also found evidence that Kimball was providing free a la carte items to students for three months preceding her termination.

The report dispels “falsehoods” that spread after Kimball said she was fired for allowing a student to keep his lunch even though there was no money in his account, Mascoma Superintendent Amanda Isabelle said Wednesday.

Both the school district and Manchester-based Cafe Services have policies against turning away hungry students, she emphasized.

“I believe this report was important to have conducted, as it really brings to life the facts surrounding the case,” Isabelle said in a phone interview.

Brian Stone, CEO and president of Cafe Services, also said the report affirms his company’s conduct.

“While we never want to have to take a step like this, it’s important that we take care of all aspects of our cafeteria businesses including our financial responsibility to the district,” Stone said in an emailed statement.

Kimball, who declined to comment on Wednesday, previously told the Valley News she was terminated after a manager saw her give a student a free lunch.

Kimball said the student had no money in his account when she went to ring him up, and she told him to “tell (your) mom you need money” before letting him go.

The report found that Kimball didn’t just provide the student with lunch, but several extras that she failed to record on the student’s account.

When Cafe Services officials investigated, they found the student was not charged for any transactions from Dec. 15 to March 28, even though Kimball acknowledged he was a frequent customer, the report said.

News of Kimball’s firing drew international attention to the five-town school district, with some asserting the boy might have otherwise gone hungry. In fact, school district policy mandates that every student have access to lunch “regardless of ability to pay for such meal.”

The notoriety briefly caused Cafe Services to offer Kimball her job back, which she declined, and Mascoma to rethink its contract with the food vendor.

However, social media messages between Kimball and the student called her account of the incident into question.

The messages, which the student’s parent provided to the school district, show Kimball asking the boy to bring in money so long as her district manager was visiting.

“Wendy told them sometimes you bring cash etc so if you could put like 20 on your account (that) would be great … they … are going to watch us ring you in tomorrow,” Kimball wrote to the student on March 28.

She continued messaging the boy, telling him about her firing and the media spotlight, for several days until a parent stepped in to stop it.

Mascoma paid $15,000 for the report, according to Kelsey Bode, a copywriter at Massachusetts-based John Guilfoil Public Relations LLC, which was commissioned for the review and has been providing services to the district.

The report was primarily written by John Dristilaris, a former Massachusetts police officer and adjunct professor at Southern New Hampshire University and Worcester, Mass.-based Becker College. Fredrick Ryan, a former Arlington, Mass., police chief, also was consulted.

Neither contacted Kimball or the student involved in the incident because of the “sensitive nature of the event,” the report said.

“The authors did not want to appear too aggressive with their inquest and were mindful that trying to interview some of those involved or having knowledge of this incident may have been seen as the school district trying to intimidate and/or ‘strong arm’ them into talking about the facts surrounding this situation,” the report said.

Bode also said in an email that investigators didn’t believe interviewing Kimball “would fundamentally change their findings.”

Isabelle, the superintendent, said she feels the report is complete, even without Kimball or the student’s testimony.

“We simply wanted an administrative review of what happened at the district,” she said. “So, I do feel that this report accomplished what it needed to.”

Isabelle added the district is working to implement recommendations from the report, which call for the district to update several policies. Those should be in place by the start of the upcoming school year, she said.

Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.