Eastwood High Lunch Period Rush Aggravates Students, Worries Parents

The school lunch period is arguably the most anticipated part of the school day for many students.

While it may never seem long enough for some, teens at Eastwood High School in the Ysleta Independent School District claim they aren’t getting enough time to eat.

“Everybody’s just rushing,” said senior Arlene Ugarte. “We can’t even eat sometimes and the teachers don’t let us eat in class,” she added.

Last year, Eastwood students had a total of 51 minutes to pick up a bite to eat off campus or go to the school cafeteria. This year it was cut down to 41 minutes and students say it’s been tough adjusting to the new timetable.

“People are running into each other, trying to get into their cars,” said senior Alexandra Sanchez. She said one of her friends got into a car accident with a junior two days ago because of the lunch-time rush.

“I have to sprint, push everyone out of my way, take off running and if I drop books, oh well, I just have to keep running,” said senior Melissa Contreras.

Students said the school’s cafeteria is too small for the amount of kids who attend Eastwood.

“The cafeteria is too small to feed even half of us,” said Sanchez. The school has more than 2,000 students, all of whom share the same lunch period.

As a result, many students choose to eat off campus by driving to nearby restaurants or walking to food vendors who set up shop at a church across from the school’s football field.

“It’s a dangerous situation,” said Eastwood mom Betty Abbott. “They’re having to shove their food in in 15 minutes. They’re getting headaches, it’s going to affect their academics.”

Her concerns were echoed by another mother, Monica Huffman.

“They’re not eating their lunch or if they are, they’re inhaling it,” she said. Huffman said she’d like for the schedule to go back to the way it was last year. She pointed out many students participate in sports after school and expressed concern over their nutrition.

YISD spokeswoman Patricia Ayala said Eastwood High School administrators are taking student feedback into consideration.

Ayala said the 10 minute cut to the lunch period is still on a “trial basis,” but said that after hearing student concerns, school officials are going to add about five more minutes to the lunch period.

“We wanted to make sure we didn’t impact class time but also make sure the students had enough time to eat their lunch,” she said.

No word yet on when the new schedule will take effect.