In recent months, students have become frustrated with the school’s strict no-DoorDash lunch policy. This rule prohibits students from ordering outside food during school hours. Any food that is delivered is collected by the administration and stored until the end of the day.
While school administrators say the rule is about safety and keeping the school day organized, students feel that the policy is unfair, especially since teachers and staff are still allowed to order food for themselves. “I just feel like we should not be worried about DoorDash being unsafe because these people are simply just trying to make money, and I do not think we should be cutting that off,” junior Edlawit Abebe said.
Students are not even allowed to pick up their own food from their parents outside of the school. “Sometimes the school food makes me sick, and when I want food from home, my parents are not able to bring anything since they do not have time. Me picking up food from my parents should not be a problem, since they are not so-called dangerous,” Abebe said.
For students, lunch is one of the only real breaks during the school day, so being able to eat food that they actually enjoy matters. Students feel that the school lunch options are limited and are not appealing. “Sometimes, I’m not feeling the school lunch because it’s the same thing every day, but I still am grateful and recognize how hard it is to provide so much food for so many students,” junior Ava Rostami said.
Ordering food would give students more freedom to choose what they want to eat and help them feel more comfortable during the day. Instead, if a student’s food is delivered, it is immediately taken away and stored in the office. This means students lose both their food during that time of day and their money if they got drinks that could possibly melt, which causes anger and resentment. “I was already having a horrible day, and I was so excited for my food, and instead, I got it ripped out of my hands and stored away. I was so mad for the rest of the day because I don’t know what gives them the right if I paid for it,” junior Ayva Mina said.
The policy has also raised concerns about fairness. While students are completely banned from ordering food, staff members don’t seem to have any restrictions. It’s normal to see teachers picking up food delivered from the front office during the day. To students, this feels like a double standard.
School administrators say the policy exists to reduce distraction in the main office, prevent unknown people from coming onto campus too and keep safety measures consistent. Students say they understand these reasons, but believe there could be a better solution. For example, the school could limit delivery times, set up a specific pickup location or require students to get approval before ordering. These options could help solve safety problems without completely banning food deliveries.
As more students talk about this issue, they have started thinking about ways to bring their concerns to school leaders. This issue has been elevated to the school’s Student Government Association President, senior Charlie Rollins. “I will try to talk to Dr. Bostic about this issue personally, or I will include this issue in our next school town hall,” Rollins said.
For now, the no-DoorDash policy is still in place, and students continue to feel its impact every day at lunch. It’s unclear if the school will ever change the rule, but it’s clear that the conversation about fairness, food choices and student voices is not going away anytime soon.
