Della Curry fed hungry kids and lost her job.

The Cherry Creek School District’s nutrition services department fired Curry, who was kitchen manager at Dakota Valley Elementary School in Aurora, for giving school lunches to students who didn’t have the money to pay for them.

The school district has a free and reduced lunch program for children who meet federal income guidelines. But Curry, who got the ax last Friday, was giving lunch to children whose parents made too much to qualify for the program.

State law prohibits the district from commenting on personnel matters, according to a statement released by the school district.

“The law does not require the school district to provide a meal to children who have forgotten their lunch money — that is a district decision,” according to the statement. “According to our practice, we provide hot meals to students the first three times they forget their lunch money and charge their parents’ accounts. The fourth time, we provide a cheese sandwich and milk. No child is ever allowed to go without lunch.”

Curry, 35, who worked there a year, doesn’t deny that she violated a policy that she believes is misguided. But she wants it changed.

“It is policy to never give out free food … that is all fine and dandy until you have little kids not on the free and reduced program and their account goes negative,” Curry said Tuesday.

During the past school year, she said, she handed out about 20 hot lunches to kids who didn’t qualify for free lunch.

Curry, who is married and has a 7-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son, is looking for a job.

“I knew the whole time it was a firing offense,” she said. “Somebody told my supervisors what I had done, and it is immediate termination. I will take that if we can change the rules.”