Cracker Barrel ‘refused service’ to special education students at Maryland restaurant, school says

“I don’t have the option of being quiet about these things,” parent Stacey Campbell said after speaking out on the incident.

A field trip for special education students to a Cracker Barrel in Maryland this week has resulted in outcry from teachers and parents.

On Tuesday, a group of 11 students and seven staff members from Maryland’s Charles County Public Schools District were “refused service” at the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Waldorf, Maryland, Superintendent Maria Navarro said in a statement. The outing was a part of community-based instruction for students at the district’s Dr. James Craik Elementary School. The instruction allows students in special education programs to perform practical skills and socialize with the public.

The Cracker Barrel general manager told teaching staff the restaurant “cannot accommodate to your group” and that the restaurant should be removed from the approved list of restaurants for community-based instruction, Charles County Public Schools special education teacher Katie Schneider told parents in an email, which has been shared online.

Stacey Campbell told USA TODAY that her autistic, non-speaking 9-year-old son, who goes by “JoJo,” attended the outing on Tuesday.

“I saw red,” Campbell said about when she read Schneider’s email.

“JoJo” attends Charles County Public Schools’ ACHIEVE, a regional program in Charles County that serves students in kindergarten through age 21 with “significant cognitive disabilities.” Students in the school district’s ACHIEVE and SOAR (regional program for students with Autism) programs attend community-based instruction outings once a month between November and May, Campbell said.

What happened at the Cracker Barrel?

In her statement, Navarro said Charles County Public Schools staff notified the Waldorf Cracker Barrel of the group’s size and purpose of its visit, but they were told reservations were unnecessary.

Though the group did not ultimately dine-in, the restaurant did permit the students and staff to place a carryout to-go order, Schneider said in her email to parents.

“During this time, the servers were blatantly rude to our staff and ignored all of our students, Schneider continued in her email. “Refusing to serve them, they did not even ask if our students wanted a drink or anything. Our students were so well behaved and sat at the tables patiently, which you know can be hard, waiting for their food and drinks to-go.”

After about an hour of waiting, Schneider said the students were moved to wait outside on the school bus. They ate the lunch back at the elementary school. Schneider did not immediately respond for comment about the experience when contacted on Friday afternoon.

In a statement provided to USA TODAY, Cracker Barrel said a “staffing challenge” led to impacting the group’s experience.

“At Cracker Barrel, we strive to create a welcoming environment for all our guests, and we understand that a recent visit by this group to our Waldorf location fell short of those expectations,” the statement reads. “A staffing challenge that day led to the closure of part of our second dining room, creating confusion that impacted the group’s experience. We take this matter seriously and are working directly with the group’s leadership to better understand what happened, extend our apologies and make things right.”

Parent organizes protest at Cracker Barrel

In response to this week’s events, Dustin Reed, whose 7-year-old daughter Madelynn attended the community-based instruction outing, has organized a protest to occur at the Waldorf Cracker Barrel on Sunday afternoon. Madelynn attends the districts’ SOAR program.

“I can’t put into words how I felt − anger, sadness and worry,” Reed told USA TODAY about learning of what happened at the restaurant. “I’ve battled wanting to protect (and) shield her from the world but not forgetting why we’re doing this. I’ve spent more time crying over her and praying she never has to experience this again.”

Reed said he hopes the protest sheds light on the fact that just because some children have different abilities, it doesn’t make them less than anyone else.

Screenshots of Schneider’s email, shared by Campbell in a public Facebook group, have garnered a lot of attention, with the post boasting nearly 300 shares, as of Friday afternoon. Campbell said she doesn’t have much of a social media presence, but she felt obligated to share her son’s experience.

“I don’t have the option of being quiet about these things,” Campbell said.

Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com.