It was announced last week on OTV news, and through a mass school email, there’s a chance that bagel bar will be “eliminated” due to “disrespectful behaviors”.  Many students are already outraged at this sudden threat to bagel bar. Mr. Lizotte is clearly fed up, and his line is very close to being cut, opening his announcement with “this is the first and only warning I am going to give”. Even some teachers are surprised by this announcement.

Students are wondering if this is an idle threat, and if this is just a threat made to get students in line. Others are already angry over the fact this is even a threat. It’s clear the food staff members have already been working as hard as possible to give us this privilege to have breakfast in the morning, but some believe closing bagel bar is a way to compensate for an under-staffed cafeteria crew.

From what the email/OTV is saying, the reasoning for this is due to “gross disrespect of others by cutting lines, not punching in your code when you take food, stealing food, and showing disrespect to the cafeteria workers”. We are also not cleaning up after ourselves. While this may be a fair statement to make, is it fair to punish the entire student body?

And from what’s already being said by students, there is going to be plenty of rebuttal. Especially if bagel bar actually DOES end up being taken away. Students aren’t taking this lightly, and many have good reasons as well.

One student commented, “I don’t have time to eat in the morning, and if I don’t eat, my medication doesn’t work properly.”

Others are simply saying they don’t have any time to eat breakfast before school. 

But there are a few students saying that this isn’t a big deal, and pointing out that many other schools don’t get breakfast in the morning from their school.

Mr. Lizotte’s final statement, “We strive to treat you all as young adults and give you privileges like offering bagel bar with the expectation that you are going to show mutual respect.  If you can’t do this, we will end it.  I truly hope those of you who have been engaging in the poor behaviors I mentioned figure it out and start being respectful of your peers and staff and acting in a manner that is consistent with our core values here at Oakmont.”

Something to think about,

Why’re the school lines for food so chaotic in the first place? We know that the bagel bar line is already chaotic, but it’s not just bagel bar, it’s also the lunch lines. 1st and 2nd. Before Covid, the lunch lines weren’t as long and unorderly. But now most days, the lines can go way out the door. By the time some kids have only begun taking their first bites, the bell has already rung, and they have to make the choice to either throw out their food, or be late to their next class from eating the rest of their lunch. This happened to several students since the start of the school year.