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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) superintendent Maria V. Navarro wrote in a statement<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Navarro wrote that, prior to the visit, staff notified the Cracker Barrel location of the group\u2019s plans, including headcount and purpose of the visit. According to CCPS, they were told that no reservation was needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUpon 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stacey Campbell, a parent of one of the students involved, shared an email from a CCPS staff member in a Facebook post<\/a>, which offered more details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile waiting, I asked to speak to the manager on duty and the general manager,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CCPS worker said the staff was \u201cblatantly rude\u201d and \u201cignored\u201d all of the students, and once they talked with a general manager, they were told the eatery doesn\u2019t \u201caccommodate to this type of group.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Navarro said that after the incident, staff talked to a Cracker Barrel district manager who wanted to \u201cobtain more information and express concerns\u201d about the students\u2019 treatment at the establishment. She added that the manager said they were willing to work with CCPS \u201cto do better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe alleged treatment of CCPS students and staff at Cracker Barrel is one that no one should experience,\u201d Navarro wrote, adding that other retailers and restaurants have reached out to offer their venues for future CCPS student field trips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe look forward to hearing from Cracker Barrel,\u201d Navarro ended the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt broke my heart,\u201d said Dustin Reed, a CCPS parent who spoke to NBC Washington<\/a> on Friday. Reed added that he and Johnna Penrod have been comforting their 7-year-old daughter, who is nonverbal, since the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPushed off to the side and just not even paid attention to,\u201d Reed said. \u201cOnly thing they wanted to go in there and to do was eat some food and enjoy their time there and learn from it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust because they have different abilities than we do doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019re less than we are,\u201d Penrod told NBC Washington. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cracker Barrel apologized for disappointing the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur missteps last week were unfortunate but were unrelated to the students\u2019 capabilities,\u201d 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur failure to follow certain operational protocols combined with poor communication on our part then led to misunderstandings and misperceptions,\u201d the rep continued. They said they\u2019re working with the community to learn and do better but did not specify how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reed, on the other hand, said he believes \u201cchildren\u2019s civil rights\u201d were \u201cblatantly ignored and disregarded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s 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,\u201d Pernod told TODAY.com. \u201cThis isn\u2019t \u2018Oh, I stepped on your toe in the movie theater, I apologize.\u2019 This isn\u2019t that type of thing that you can just sweep underneath the rug with an \u2018I\u2019m sorry,\u2019 in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reed is planning a protest of the Cracker Barrel location<\/a> where the incident occurred on Sunday, and 75 people say they\u2019re interested in attending as of this writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The discussion board on the event, as well as other posts<\/a> by Reed, are filled with supportive comments<\/a>, outrage<\/a> and vows never to visit Cracker Barrel again<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis group of students and teachers were, are, and always will be welcome to dine with us,\u201d the Cracker Barrel representative said. \u201cWe will make things right, and we look forward to earning back their trust and confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n