Prometheus 6

And some districts have found other benefits to a closed-lunch policy: In Denver, attendance in afternoon classes improved after many 9th and 10th graders were barred from going out to lunch last school year. In Bridgman, Mich., a town of about 2,500 on Lake Michigan, cafeteria sales have been up more than 10 percent in the two years since the high school closed its campus.

“Our food service program operates in the black now, whereas it never did before,” said Kevin Ivers, Bridgman’s superintendent, noting that the high school had added a second lunch period to reduce lines, and overhauled the menu to introduce quesadillas, yogurt, salads and fruit. “That enables us to put more money into the classrooms.”

Fatal Accidents Erode Perk of Off-Campus Lunches
By WINNIE HU

SMITHTOWN, N.Y. — The students used to overflow the wooden booths and green tables at Don Jono’s Pizzeria, racing through pepperoni slices and large sodas before driving the quarter-mile back to Smithtown High School West in time for their next class.

But now the pizzas pile up behind the counter. Pete Crescimanno, a compact man with a neat black mustache who co-owns the place, estimates that he has lost more than $500 a week in sales since the school district ended its longstanding policy of allowing seniors to go off-campus for lunch. One recent morning, Mr. Crescimanno and an assistant pounded and tossed dough in a nearly empty storefront, with only the radio to break the silence.

“It’s not the same, and you miss that because you used to prepare for the kids and now you don’t see them,” he said. “Of course, you miss the business, but you also miss the fact that they’re not here anymore.”