The money comes from the Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies Program, which is designed to foster a safe and nurturing school environment, Whitaker wrote.
In his statement, the principal said the food fight took place Dec. 13. According to two students interviewed, and references in the school paper, it took place Dec. 12.
The menu for that day included chicken nuggets, burgers (plain, cheese or veggie), Philly cheesesteak and an assortment of salads and fruits.
Heath Thumel, 17, a senior, said he and friends were eating lunch when the food fight started.
"From somewhere behind me, a bagel sandwich came and landed all over me and my girlfriend and a couple other people," he said. "Then a couple of kids from our table turned and talked stuff back.
"The next thing I knew, cheeseburgers were flying, trays were flying. Everyone ran out of the cafeteria."
For the next week, Thumel said, students were dismissed from lunch one table at a time.
No one was seriously injured in the food fight, but at least two students were suspended, officials said.
Two days later, Whitaker put forth the reward offer.
Commentators in the student newspaper complained that the offer was offensive and inappropriate. Two of the writers incorporated their classroom work into the articles, comparing the reward to cash paid for escaped slaves under the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act.
In his editorial, Alex Kolodner conceded that students largely ignore directions to clean up after they eat, but asked, "Isn't the administration's reaction blowing this whole thing out of proportion?"
He wrote some students have talked about staging walk-outs or sit-ins over the reward offers.
"A $30 offer might be tempting," student Paige Eckley wrote in her article. "But is it just?"
larry.carson@baltsun.com
Sun reporters Gina Davis, Arin Gencer, Brent Jones and Ruma Kumar contributed to this article.
