When Jon Bivens' son came home with a stamp on his hand during the last week of school, Bivens didn't think much of it.

"I thought it was a good job stamp," he said.

Upon another glance, Bivens saw that it wasn't a good job stamp. There was a smiley face, and under it a note saying, "I need lunch money."

Bivens' son attends Gardendale Elementary School and just completed third grade.

Typically, Bivens said, he or his wife receives an email when their son's lunch money account is running low. While he mostly brings his lunch from home, the 8-year-old likes to buy ice cream or other treats from the lunchroom.

Bivens said that, on the last week of school, his son had a positive balance in his account. After he bought his ice cream, the child still had a balance of $1.38.

"They herd these kids like cattle," Bivens said.

The father said that his son was "branded."

"When you start stamping a message on a child's body instead of calling...it's not okay."

Bivens' son did not return to school for the last few days of the academic year.

Gardendale Elementary School Principal Laura Ware said that she was not aware of the incident, but that the lunchroom department uses different methods of alerting parents of their child's balance. She said those notices include emails, notes, stickers, and stamps.

She said that the school first sends emails when a child's account balance is low or negative. If parents do not respond, she said that lunchroom workers use the stickers, or stamps, like Bivens' son received.

"It's a form of bullying and shaming the kids," Bivens said.

He said that he had not received an email, and that he wasn't planning to add more money to the account because there were only a few days left of school.

Even if the child had a negative balance and did need money, Bivens thought the stamp was unacceptable.

"I don't care if my son has a -$100 balance... I don't care. Send me a note home or an email...Where can I draw the line regarding my parental rights?"

Ware, who said that her greatest desire as a principal is to communicate with the parents, said, "we want to communicate in a way that our parents are happy with."

"That's a part of our jobs."

She said that the school would be happy to only send emails and exclude stamps for Bivens' son, and for any other parent that wishes to do so.