When it Comes to Lunch, Sometimes Less is More

An average third period at FCHS starts with students piling into the Cafeteria at 12:03pm for “A lunch” and students flooding the hallways after “D lunch” at 2:01pm. But this wasn’t always the case.

For students younger than the Class of 2024, having four short lunch periods is all they know. However, juniors and seniors can remember a time when lunch wasn’t a mad dash to buy food, find a table, and stuff your face in 20 minutes or less. These upperclassmen can remember when FCHS students had nearly 30 minutes to eat, making lunch an enjoyable stretch rather than something like running the 100 meter dash.

This all changed three years ago during the 2020-2021 school year when FCHS switched to the current A, B, C, and D, four-lunch schedule.

“The reason we switched to four lunches was primarily based on the large number of students in the three lunches,” said Assistant Principal Chad White. According to White there is a “possibility” that FCHS could switch back to three lunches, but he believes that having so many students in one spot could pose a safety issue. “When numbers are that large we have to start thinking about safety. Mainly, evacuating a large number of students in one space could become a safety issue,” he said.

Cafeteria Manager Sheri Casero says that she preferred the three-lunch schedule. “It gave a longer time to feed [students] and it gave my staff more time in between lunches to make different food, or whatever we needed,” she said. Casero admitted that the three-lunch schedule does cause some problems because it adds roughly 100 more students per lunch that must be served, and in a short amount of time.

How do students feel? Junior Hayden Bridge said that he prefers three lunches because of the longer time given to students. “I don’t like the four-lunch bells because it feels like it doesn’t give me enough time to eat. I’m standing in line for so long, I have to choose between talking to my friends and scarfing down my food,” he said.

On the other hand, junior Brooke Smith says that she prefers four lunches due to the smaller sizes. “It’s calmer when there’s not so many people in the cafeteria,” she explained.

Regardless of which lunch schedule students and staff prefer, the fact remains that any possible change to the lunch schedule would not happen until the fall of 2023.