A Cracker Barrel restaurant reportedly refused to serve a group of students with disabilities from a Maryland public school district who were out on a community field trip.
On Dec. 3, a group of 11 students and seven staffers from Charles County Public Schools visited a Cracker Barrel location in Waldorf, Maryland, as part of a community-based instruction, which is a way of teaching functional skills to students with disabilities in a real-world setting.
But the restaurant refused to serve the students and asked that Cracker Barrel be removed from the school’s list of CBI locations, according to a letter written by Charles County Public Schools Superintendent Maria Navarro on Dec. 5. The students were allowed to place a takeout order, the letter said.
“Our students and staff are our No. 1 priority, and we are disheartened to learn about the alleged treatment they received while participating in an activity designed to educate our students using real-world applications,” Navarro wrote. “The alleged treatment of CCPS students and staff at Cracker Barrel is one that no one should experience.”
School employees had notified the restaurant ahead of the trip and told them the size of the party, but Cracker Barrel employees told the school they did not need a reservation, according to CCPS.
“That we disappointed this group of students and teachers during their recent visit is unacceptable to us, and we sincerely apologize,” Cracker Barrel said in a statement.
The biscuits-and-gravy chain said its “missteps” were “unrelated to the students’ capabilities.”
The Cracker Barrel location was unable to seat a party of 18 because it had “unexpected staffing issues” and had closed part of its second dining room, the company said.
“Our failure to follow certain operational protocols combined with poor communication on our part then led to misunderstandings and misperceptions,” Cracker Barrel said.
One school district parent shared an email she received from her son’s teacher about the incident on Facebook.
In the email, the teacher called it a “very bad experience” and said the staff were rude to the school employees and ignored the students. The Cracker Barrel location refused to serve the group even if they broke into smaller groups at separate tables, the teacher wrote.
The manager on duty and general manager were both “very disregarding,” the teacher said. The general manager allegedly asked to be removed from the list for future trips because they do not serve “this type of group,” the teacher said.
The company said it is working with the school and local community to learn from the experience and do better in the future. Navarro confirmed that the district manager said the business would be willing to work with the school district.
Several other restaurants and businesses quickly reached out to offer their locations as sites for future CBI trips, the superintendent said.
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