Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is great for kids to be able to access teachers for meetings etc. And not eat lunch at 7:45 AM. And it does look like this unfortunately is happening. Vote is in a few weeks. Board members and TT is all on board unless I am missing something? With little time for comment.

The vote isn’t in a few weeks - it’s on May 21, a week from today! Why are they rushing this? Why the short comment period?

PLEASE READ THIS THREAD THOROUGHLY AND WATCH THE BOE's POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING.

Both of your questions are addressed in there.

You keep saying that, but I have read it and there’s really no good explanation. You screaming about it doesn’t change that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is great for kids to be able to access teachers for meetings etc. And not eat lunch at 7:45 AM. And it does look like this unfortunately is happening. Vote is in a few weeks. Board members and TT is all on board unless I am missing something? With little time for comment.

The vote isn’t in a few weeks - it’s on May 21, a week from today! Why are they rushing this? Why the short comment period?

PLEASE READ THIS THREAD THOROUGHLY AND WATCH THE BOE's POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING.

Both of your questions are addressed in there.

Anonymous wrote:It is great for kids to be able to access teachers for meetings etc. And not eat lunch at 7:45 AM. And it does look like this unfortunately is happening. Vote is in a few weeks. Board members and TT is all on board unless I am missing something? With little time for comment.

The vote isn’t in a few weeks - it’s on May 21, a week from today! Why are they rushing this? Why the short comment period?

It is great for kids to be able to access teachers for meetings etc. And not eat lunch at 7:45 AM. And it does look like this unfortunately is happening. Vote is in a few weeks. Board members and TT is all on board unless I am missing something? With little time for comment.

I just sent a long email to the Board, and encourage all of you to do the same.

Does the Board care about the community preferences? I guess we’ll find out if they are at all responsive to the electorate.

RM has open lunch. Kids are able to walk to a bunch of places all within close proximity. We are in same situation as BCC.... Kids eating all over the building already. Can't imagine requiring everyone to stay on campus for lunch unless they go back to multiple lunch periods.

Anonymous wrote:THERE NEEDS TO BE AN EXCEPTION FOR SCHOOLS THAT CANNOT ACCOMMODATE ALL THEIR STUDENTS DURING LUNCH, SUCH AS BCC.

BCC has always had open lunch, mostly because the cafeteria was not expanded during its multiple additions, and partly because since it's in downtown Bethesda, outside food options are safely and easily accessible.

It is not physically possibly for BCC students to all stay at school during lunch! The cafeteria cannot serve even a quarter of the kids! If most kids brings lunch from home and eat it at school, they will be forced to eat on the floor in the hallways. The outdoor court in the middle of the building is minuscule compared to the number of students and cannot accommodate even an eighth of the kids.

In short, there CANNOT be a blanket ban on open lunch. It takes very little effort to call up every high school and ask their Principals whether it would be a hardship, considering the size of the cafeteria, size of the building, and number of students, to cancel open lunch. WHY IS THE BOARD NOT DOING THIS?

The Board members need to resign if it knows so little about its schools that it leans towards a one-size-fits-all solution. SHAME ON THE BOARD AND THE SUPERINTENDENT.

No MCPS school has a cafeteria that can accommodate all students in one lunch. Cafeterias are designed from a set plan. MCEA demanded one lunch so teachers could meet together. One lunch was put into schools and students were allowed to eat all over the school. It takes the maintenance crew hours every day to clean up the entire school after one lunch as compared to a much shorter, , more efficient time cleaning up one cafeteria.
MCEA wants one lunch and they will make sure they keep it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:THERE NEEDS TO BE AN EXCEPTION FOR SCHOOLS THAT CANNOT ACCOMMODATE ALL THEIR STUDENTS DURING LUNCH, SUCH AS BCC.

BCC has always had open lunch, mostly because the cafeteria was not expanded during its multiple additions, and partly because since it's in downtown Bethesda, outside food options are safely and easily accessible.

It is not physically possibly for BCC students to all stay at school during lunch! The cafeteria cannot serve even a quarter of the kids! If most kids brings lunch from home and eat it at school, they will be forced to eat on the floor in the hallways. The outdoor court in the middle of the building is minuscule compared to the number of students and cannot accommodate even an eighth of the kids.

In short, there CANNOT be a blanket ban on open lunch. It takes very little effort to call up every high school and ask their Principals whether it would be a hardship, considering the size of the cafeteria, size of the building, and number of students, to cancel open lunch. WHY IS THE BOARD NOT DOING THIS?

The Board members need to resign if it knows so little about its schools that it leans towards a one-size-fits-all solution. SHAME ON THE BOARD AND THE SUPERINTENDENT.

You do realize that other MCPS high schools that have closed lunch policies do in fact have kids eating in classrooms and hallways, right?

So you're screaming and shouting that BCC would pretty much have to comply with a policy the rest of the HSes already comply with.

Smells like white privilege.

BCC isn’t the only school with open lunch btw.

A blanket ban on open lunch because “equity” doesn’t seem fair for the students and businesses that rely on them although it’s par for the course at MCPS to reduce opportunities, not expand them so this will probably end up happening.

Show me where I made the claim that BCC was the only high school with open lunch?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:THERE NEEDS TO BE AN EXCEPTION FOR SCHOOLS THAT CANNOT ACCOMMODATE ALL THEIR STUDENTS DURING LUNCH, SUCH AS BCC.

BCC has always had open lunch, mostly because the cafeteria was not expanded during its multiple additions, and partly because since it's in downtown Bethesda, outside food options are safely and easily accessible.

It is not physically possibly for BCC students to all stay at school during lunch! The cafeteria cannot serve even a quarter of the kids! If most kids brings lunch from home and eat it at school, they will be forced to eat on the floor in the hallways. The outdoor court in the middle of the building is minuscule compared to the number of students and cannot accommodate even an eighth of the kids.

In short, there CANNOT be a blanket ban on open lunch. It takes very little effort to call up every high school and ask their Principals whether it would be a hardship, considering the size of the cafeteria, size of the building, and number of students, to cancel open lunch. WHY IS THE BOARD NOT DOING THIS?

The Board members need to resign if it knows so little about its schools that it leans towards a one-size-fits-all solution. SHAME ON THE BOARD AND THE SUPERINTENDENT.

You do realize that other MCPS high schools that have closed lunch policies do in fact have kids eating in classrooms and hallways, right?

So you're screaming and shouting that BCC would pretty much have to comply with a policy the rest of the HSes already comply with.

Smells like white privilege.

BCC isn’t the only school with open lunch btw.

A blanket ban on open lunch because “equity” doesn’t seem fair for the students and businesses that rely on them although it’s par for the course at MCPS to reduce opportunities, not expand them so this will probably end up happening.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:THERE NEEDS TO BE AN EXCEPTION FOR SCHOOLS THAT CANNOT ACCOMMODATE ALL THEIR STUDENTS DURING LUNCH, SUCH AS BCC.

BCC has always had open lunch, mostly because the cafeteria was not expanded during its multiple additions, and partly because since it's in downtown Bethesda, outside food options are safely and easily accessible.

It is not physically possibly for BCC students to all stay at school during lunch! The cafeteria cannot serve even a quarter of the kids! If most kids brings lunch from home and eat it at school, they will be forced to eat on the floor in the hallways. The outdoor court in the middle of the building is minuscule compared to the number of students and cannot accommodate even an eighth of the kids.

In short, there CANNOT be a blanket ban on open lunch. It takes very little effort to call up every high school and ask their Principals whether it would be a hardship, considering the size of the cafeteria, size of the building, and number of students, to cancel open lunch. WHY IS THE BOARD NOT DOING THIS?

The Board members need to resign if it knows so little about its schools that it leans towards a one-size-fits-all solution. SHAME ON THE BOARD AND THE SUPERINTENDENT.

You do realize that other MCPS high schools that have closed lunch policies do in fact have kids eating in classrooms and hallways, right?

So you're screaming and shouting that BCC would pretty much have to comply with a policy the rest of the HSes already comply with.

Smells like white privilege.

Give me a break. White privilege is real, but this isn’t it. BCC students already eat in classrooms and hallways. Not everyone goes out for lunch and most who don’t aren’t eating in the tiny (relative to size of student body) cafeteria. The problem would be if all 2500 students had to stay in because almost all would be eating in the hallways and for no good reason. Open lunch works well at BCC. The current policy is to leave it up to each principal to decide. Why is that a problem? Every school is different. If my kids went to a school that wasn’t in a walkable location, I might not want the to have open lunch. But they can get a slice of pizza and Chipotle within a 5-min walk, which they do about once or twice a week and eat in the hallways the other days. Why should it matter to parents at other schools if kids at other schools in more urban settings have open lunch?!

Please read this thread thoroughly. I outlined why it was a problem and what the board discussed in its policy committee meeting.

Do your homework on a subject before you dig your heels in on an opinion and advocate for something.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:THERE NEEDS TO BE AN EXCEPTION FOR SCHOOLS THAT CANNOT ACCOMMODATE ALL THEIR STUDENTS DURING LUNCH, SUCH AS BCC.

BCC has always had open lunch, mostly because the cafeteria was not expanded during its multiple additions, and partly because since it's in downtown Bethesda, outside food options are safely and easily accessible.

It is not physically possibly for BCC students to all stay at school during lunch! The cafeteria cannot serve even a quarter of the kids! If most kids brings lunch from home and eat it at school, they will be forced to eat on the floor in the hallways. The outdoor court in the middle of the building is minuscule compared to the number of students and cannot accommodate even an eighth of the kids.

In short, there CANNOT be a blanket ban on open lunch. It takes very little effort to call up every high school and ask their Principals whether it would be a hardship, considering the size of the cafeteria, size of the building, and number of students, to cancel open lunch. WHY IS THE BOARD NOT DOING THIS?

The Board members need to resign if it knows so little about its schools that it leans towards a one-size-fits-all solution. SHAME ON THE BOARD AND THE SUPERINTENDENT.

You do realize that other MCPS high schools that have closed lunch policies do in fact have kids eating in classrooms and hallways, right?

So you're screaming and shouting that BCC would pretty much have to comply with a policy the rest of the HSes already comply with.

Smells like white privilege.

Give me a break. White privilege is real, but this isn’t it. BCC students already eat in classrooms and hallways. Not everyone goes out for lunch and most who don’t aren’t eating in the tiny (relative to size of student body) cafeteria. The problem would be if all 2500 students had to stay in because almost all would be eating in the hallways and for no good reason. Open lunch works well at BCC. The current policy is to leave it up to each principal to decide. Why is that a problem? Every school is different. If my kids went to a school that wasn’t in a walkable location, I might not want the to have open lunch. But they can get a slice of pizza and Chipotle within a 5-min walk, which they do about once or twice a week and eat in the hallways the other days. Why should it matter to parents at other schools if kids at other schools in more urban settings have open lunch?!

Anonymous wrote:THERE NEEDS TO BE AN EXCEPTION FOR SCHOOLS THAT CANNOT ACCOMMODATE ALL THEIR STUDENTS DURING LUNCH, SUCH AS BCC.

BCC has always had open lunch, mostly because the cafeteria was not expanded during its multiple additions, and partly because since it's in downtown Bethesda, outside food options are safely and easily accessible.

It is not physically possibly for BCC students to all stay at school during lunch! The cafeteria cannot serve even a quarter of the kids! If most kids brings lunch from home and eat it at school, they will be forced to eat on the floor in the hallways. The outdoor court in the middle of the building is minuscule compared to the number of students and cannot accommodate even an eighth of the kids.

In short, there CANNOT be a blanket ban on open lunch. It takes very little effort to call up every high school and ask their Principals whether it would be a hardship, considering the size of the cafeteria, size of the building, and number of students, to cancel open lunch. WHY IS THE BOARD NOT DOING THIS?

The Board members need to resign if it knows so little about its schools that it leans towards a one-size-fits-all solution. SHAME ON THE BOARD AND THE SUPERINTENDENT.

You do realize that other MCPS high schools that have closed lunch policies do in fact have kids eating in classrooms and hallways, right?

So you're screaming and shouting that BCC would pretty much have to comply with a policy the rest of the HSes already comply with.

Smells like white privilege.

THERE NEEDS TO BE AN EXCEPTION FOR SCHOOLS THAT CANNOT ACCOMMODATE ALL THEIR STUDENTS DURING LUNCH, SUCH AS BCC.

BCC has always had open lunch, mostly because the cafeteria was not expanded during its multiple additions, and partly because since it's in downtown Bethesda, outside food options are safely and easily accessible.

It is not physically possibly for BCC students to all stay at school during lunch! The cafeteria cannot serve even a quarter of the kids! If most kids brings lunch from home and eat it at school, they will be forced to eat on the floor in the hallways. The outdoor court in the middle of the building is minuscule compared to the number of students and cannot accommodate even an eighth of the kids.

In short, there CANNOT be a blanket ban on open lunch. It takes very little effort to call up every high school and ask their Principals whether it would be a hardship, considering the size of the cafeteria, size of the building, and number of students, to cancel open lunch. WHY IS THE BOARD NOT DOING THIS?

The Board members need to resign if it knows so little about its schools that it leans towards a one-size-fits-all solution. SHAME ON THE BOARD AND THE SUPERINTENDENT.

Anonymous wrote:So does TT’s proposal call for both closed lunch AND multiple lunches? I don’t see how they could/would force schools that already do one closed lunch to start having multiple lunches.

TT has not publicly shared his proposal yet. At this point, it's clear he views Open Lunch as a liability, but there's nothing to indicate that he is mandating multiple lunch periods. The main thing he seems down on is the idea of kids LEAVING the school campus for lunch.

Anonymous wrote:My concern is the Board discussion to mandate multiple period closed lunches. My kid is at Blair and enjoys the hour long lunch period - everyone has the same lunch period. They run clubs during lunch, students meet with teachers for academic support, watch movies in the theatre, play sports in the gyms, go the weight room, etc., and if not in a club or meeting with a teacher, the kids get to chill with friends for an hour. Since everyone has the same lunch period - they get to see all their friends. The students eat in the cafeteria, outside, in teacher's classrooms, and in the hallway table areas. If a multi-period lunch gets mandated, gone are the lunch clubs, the kids won't be able to hang in teacher's classrooms or eat in multiple places, and academic support will be more limited. Hopefully that was just a passing thought and not something that will actually be implemented.

Several of the high-profile, gun-related safety incidents (such as the recent ones at Blake and Walter Johnson) have had open lunch as common denominator.

What you are describing, kids being able to eat in classrooms and have clubs meet during lunch, is not an Open Lunch policy. Many schools that have closed lunches allow for that.

The sticking point and why this topic is coming up now is on Open Lunch policies that allow kids to leave campus during lunch. The issues involved include:

- Complaints from local businesses about kids overwhelming those restaurants and businesses from a volume perspective
- Theft, violence and general disruption of those establishments
- Absenteeism, since many kids who leave for open lunch don't come back to school or don't come back to school on time
- Overall school safety since kids can bring things, like dangerous weapons, from outside the school into the school building when they come back

If you watch the BOE policy meeting and saw the vote and the tone of the discussion, you should know that this was not just a passing thought. Taylor is going to claw back open lunch from these schools.

The question is how will it be done?

1. The Board has the option of setting a clear and updated policy restricting the parameters under which open lunch is defined and allowed
2. Banning it completely (as PG County has done)
3. Rescinding the open lunch policy and leaving this area completely up to the Superintendent (in which case he will most certainly ban it)

For those who are passionate about preserving whatever positive aspects of Open Lunch you like, I'd encourage you to focus your time and energy on advocating for pathway 1, as that leaves the most opportunity for community engagement and involvement. The other two pathways are dead ends in that regard.