A group of students with disabilities visited a Cracker Barrel in Waldorf, Maryland, and were refused service, according to school officials, leading to community outcry and a planned protest.
Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) superintendent Maria V. Navarro wrote in a statement Thursday that 11 students with disabilities and seven staff members visited the restaurant two days earlier. The field trip was part of a community-based instruction program meant to hone life skills, including interacting with others in public spaces like retail shops and restaurants.
Navarro wrote that, prior to the visit, staff notified the Cracker Barrel location of the group’s plans, including headcount and purpose of the visit. According to CCPS, they were told that no reservation was needed.
“Upon arrival, the students and staff were declined service and asked to no longer include the restaurant on its CBI list,” Navarro wrote, adding that the group was able to place a carryout order.
Stacey Campbell, a parent of one of the students involved, shared an email from a CCPS staff member in a Facebook post, which offered more details.
“While waiting, I asked to speak to the manager on duty and the general manager,” read a portion of the letter, which explained that the group was seated in a closed section in the back of the restaurant while their takeout order was being filled.
The CCPS worker said the staff was “blatantly rude” and “ignored” all of the students, and once they talked with a general manager, they were told the eatery doesn’t “accommodate to this type of group.”
Navarro said that after the incident, staff talked to a Cracker Barrel district manager who wanted to “obtain more information and express concerns” about the students’ treatment at the establishment. She added that the manager said they were willing to work with CCPS “to do better.”
“The alleged treatment of CCPS students and staff at Cracker Barrel is one that no one should experience,” Navarro wrote, adding that other retailers and restaurants have reached out to offer their venues for future CCPS student field trips.
“We look forward to hearing from Cracker Barrel,” Navarro ended the letter.
“It broke my heart,” said Dustin Reed, a CCPS parent who spoke to NBC Washington on Friday. Reed added that he and Johnna Penrod have been comforting their 7-year-old daughter, who is nonverbal, since the incident.
“Pushed off to the side and just not even paid attention to,” Reed said. “Only thing they wanted to go in there and to do was eat some food and enjoy their time there and learn from it.”
“Just because they have different abilities than we do doesn’t mean that they’re less than we are,” Penrod told NBC Washington. “They deserve to be treated like human beings, they deserve to be loved, they deserve to be cared for. They deserve to have morale given to them.”
Cracker Barrel apologized for disappointing the students.
“Our missteps last week were unfortunate but were unrelated to the students’ capabilities,” a representative for Cracker Barrel told TODAY.com, adding that the refusal of service to the party of 18 was due to staffing issues and a partially closed second dining room.
“Our failure to follow certain operational protocols combined with poor communication on our part then led to misunderstandings and misperceptions,” the rep continued. They said they’re working with the community to learn and do better but did not specify how.
Reed, on the other hand, said he believes “children’s civil rights” were “blatantly ignored and disregarded.”
Pernod said their daughter has enjoyed outings at many other locations, including fast-food restaurants, and that the group visited a dollar store before Cracker Barrel that day without incident.
“There’s nothing that a district manager or someone in their HR department is going to say that is going to fix this. The damage is done,” Pernod told TODAY.com. “This isn’t ‘Oh, I stepped on your toe in the movie theater, I apologize.’ This isn’t that type of thing that you can just sweep underneath the rug with an ‘I’m sorry,’ in my opinion.”
Reed is planning a protest of the Cracker Barrel location where the incident occurred on Sunday, and 75 people say they’re interested in attending as of this writing.
The discussion board on the event, as well as other posts by Reed, are filled with supportive comments, outrage and vows never to visit Cracker Barrel again.
“This group of students and teachers were, are, and always will be welcome to dine with us,” the Cracker Barrel representative said. “We will make things right, and we look forward to earning back their trust and confidence.”
