It’s not lunch, it’s brunch.
Eighth-graders at a middle school in Queens will be getting a lesson in how to eat like an heiress this year after their lunch time was moved up so early in the day their principal sent a letter to parents calling it “brunch.”
Lunch will now start at 9:45 a.m. for some students at IS 25 in Whitestone.
Mimosas won’t be served, just the usual cafeteria fare of chili and mozzarella sticks.
Some parents are fuming.
“My concern is that this brunch schedule teaches children to skip breakfast,” said Paul Manuele, a father of an IS 25 eighth-grader. “Those that don’t skip breakfast won’t have the appetite for a meal two hours later.”
Principal Mary Ellen Beirne said she was scheduling three lunch periods instead of two because of overcrowding. Last year, she said, more than 400 kids were crammed into the cafeteria at once.
She wrote in the letter that eighth-grade students would eat “brunch” at the early time, noting that kids that age were less likely to eat breakfast anyway.
Bettina Siegel, a Houston mother who runs the school-food blog The Lunch Tray, said she was sympathetic to scheduling problems faced by principals but also concerned that, with such an early lunch time, kids will skip main dishes for less-healthy snacks.
“Who wants to be eating chili at that hour in the morning?” she said. “I would have to think it’s going to undercut the consumption of the healthy lunch.”
Menu
What some IS 25 students will be served—at 9:45 a.m.
Sept. 6 (first day of school)
Savory roasted chicken with harvest blend rice and seasoned pinto beans
Sept. 10
Mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce, whole-wheat dinner roll and roasted spinach with garlic & herbs
Sept. 13
Whole-grain penne pasta with Italian Bolognese sauce and garlicky green beans
Source: Department of Education’s Office of School Food and Nutrition Services