Parents at a Maryland elementary school are planning to protest a local Cracker Barrel. The restaurant in Waldorf, Maryland, allegedly refused to serve a group of special needs students who were visiting the food chain for what was supposed to be an educational outing.
On Tuesday, employees at the Cracker Barrel reportedly turned away 11 students and seven staff members, claiming they could not accommodate such a large party. But parents and the school administration believe there was another reason for the lack of service and ruder treatment.
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The school alerted the restaurant about the size of its party and purpose.
In a statement obtained by USA Today, Superintendent Maria Navarro, explained what happened to the surrounding community. She claimed a school staffer forewarned Cracker Barrel about the group’s size and the purpose of its visit. Every month, from November to May, students in the ACHIEVE and SOAR programs venture into the community, allowing students to perform practical skills and socialize with the public. A Cracker Barrel employee told a school staff member that reservations were unnecessary.
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Cracker Barrel said its name should be removed from the approved venue list.
When the group of students and staff arrived, Cracker Barrel’s general manager told them the restaurant “cannot accommodate to your group,” per an email from special education teacher Katie Schneider. The manager took it a step further, claiming that Charles County Public Schools should remove the venue from its list of approved restaurants for community-based instruction.
But the children were already there, so they placed an order to go. Schneider claimed that as the students waited for their food, staff behaved rudely.
The students ate back at the school.
“Refusing to serve them, (staff) did not even ask if our students wanted a drink or anything,” Schneider wrote, per USA Today. “Our students were so well behaved and sat at the tables patiently, which you know can be hard, waiting for their food and drinks to-go.”
The students and staff, who offered to sit at separate tables, waited for about an hour for their food to be prepared. Schneider wrote that during that time, they watched other parties sat, dined, and left the restaurant. After they got their food, the students took their lunches onto the bus and ate at the elementary school.
Cracker Barrel also released a statement.
Restaurant officials responded to the matter in a statement to USA Today, claiming a “staffing challenge” led to the closure of the restaurant’s second dining room.
“At Cracker Barrel, we strive to create a welcoming environment for all our guests, and we understand that a recent visit by this group to our Waldorf location fell short of those expectations,” the Cracker Barrel statement read. “We take this matter seriously and are working directly with the group’s leadership to better understand what happened, extend our apologies and make things right.”
Parents plan to protest.
The statement wasn’t enough to appease parents, and they’ve organized a protest for December 15 at the restaurant. Dustin Reed, whose 7-year-old daughter Madelynn, attended the outing, is organizing the protest.
“I can’t put into words how I felt − anger, sadness and worry,” Reed said. “I’ve spent more time crying over her and praying she never has to experience this again.”
He hopes the pushback will send a message that just because children have different abilities, it doesn’t mean they’re less than anyone else. “I’ve battled wanting to protect (and) shield her from the world but not forgetting why we’re doing this,” Reed said.
