A Cracker Barrel restaurant reportedly refused to serve a bunch of scholars with disabilities from a Maryland public college district who had been out on a neighborhood area journey.
On Dec. 3, a bunch of 11 college students and 7 staffers from Charles County Public Faculties visited a Cracker Barrel location in Waldorf, Maryland, as a part of a community-based instruction, which is a means of educating practical abilities to college students with disabilities in a real-world setting.
However the restaurant refused to serve the scholars and requested that Cracker Barrel be faraway from the college’s checklist of CBI places, in line with a letter written by Charles County Public Faculties Superintendent Maria Navarro on Dec. 5. The scholars had been allowed to position a takeout order, the letter stated.
“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.”
Faculty workers had notified the restaurant forward of the journey and instructed them the dimensions of the occasion, however Cracker Barrel workers instructed the college they didn’t want a reservation, in line with CCPS.
“That we disappointed this group of students and teachers during their recent visit is unacceptable to us, and we sincerely apologize,” Cracker Barrel stated in a press release.
The biscuits-and-gravy chain stated its “missteps” had been “unrelated to the students’ capabilities.”
The Cracker Barrel location was unable to seat a celebration of 18 as a result of it had “unexpected staffing issues” and had closed a part of its second eating room, the corporate stated.
“Our failure to follow certain operational protocols combined with poor communication on our part then led to misunderstandings and misperceptions,” Cracker Barrel stated.
One college district guardian shared an e mail she acquired from her son’s trainer concerning the incident on Fb.
Within the e mail, the trainer known as it a “very bad experience” and stated the employees had been impolite to the college workers and ignored the scholars. The Cracker Barrel location refused to serve the group even when they broke into smaller teams at separate tables, the trainer wrote.
The supervisor on responsibility and basic supervisor had been each “very disregarding,” the trainer stated. The overall supervisor allegedly requested to be faraway from the checklist for future journeys as a result of they don’t serve “this type of group,” the trainer stated.
The corporate stated it’s working with the college and local people to study from the expertise and do higher sooner or later. Navarro confirmed that the district supervisor stated the enterprise could be keen to work with the college district.
A number of different eating places and companies shortly reached out to supply their places as websites for future CBI journeys, the superintendent stated.