News Scrap

Cracker Barrel has issued an apology after a group of Maryland special needs students were denied service during a field trip to one of its locations. According to reports, the incident occurred at the Waldorf restaurant when students who are a part of the Charles County Public Schools‘ (CCPS) community-based instruction (CBI) program was on a field trip that was aimed to improve their life skills. CCPS Superintendent Maria Navarro stated that Cracker Barrel was on the list of approved venues for the group that consisted of 11 students and seven faculty members.

The situation led to frustrations amongst the parents of the students and community members, resulting in many calling out the restaurant chain for how they handled the incident. In an open letter, Navarro explained that the program leaders had reached out to the restaurant before the field trip and were told that a reservation wasn’t necessary. But unfortunately, when the group arrived, they were met with resistance from Cracker Barrel staff. The restaurant claimed that they were unable to accommodate the group due to being short-staffed and capacity limits, offering takeout as an alternative solution. However, when the group inquired about splitting up and sitting at smaller tables, they were allegedly turned away.

“The alleged treatment of CCPS students, and staff, at Cracker Barrel is one that no one should experience. However, it is encouraging to learn that the district manager said the business would be willing to work with CCPS to do better,” Navarro wrote.

Cracker Barrel later responded to the mishap in an official statement to apologize for the situation but also clarified that the incident did not have anything to do with the students’ disabilities.

“Our missteps last week were unfortunate but were unrelated to the students’ capabilities,” the company said. “They were due to our inability to accommodate a party of 18 that arrived when we were facing unexpected staffing issues and had partially closed our second dining room.”

Additionally, the restaurant acknowledged its mistake in following proper operational protocols and mentioned that poor communication led to “misunderstandings and misperceptions.” In efforts to fix the situation, Cracker Barrel also stated its willingness to collaborate with the school district in the future to ensure another incident doesn’t occur.

Nonetheless, despite Cracker Barrel issuing an apology, many parents were left unsatisfied. Dustin Reed, a local parent of a nonverbal student who was in attendance for the field trip, expressed his frustrations and said the students were “pushed off to the side, and just not even paid attention to. The only thing they wanted to go in there to do was eat some food and enjoy their time there and learn from it.” Since then, Reed has organized a protest against the Waldorf location.