Sometimes, when Dawn Iannaco-Hahn tried to pick her kids up early from Blake High School so they can attend a doctor鈥檚 appointment, she鈥檇 strategically try to plan it around lunch time.
As she approached the Montgomery County school鈥檚 main office, waiting to be let in, she often noticed school staff manning what she described as the 鈥淒oorDash table鈥� 鈥� the space where food delivery drivers would leave students鈥� orders.
Last year, the school had an outright ban on food deliveries. But students told drivers to meet them at the bottom of a nearby hill instead of driving onto school property. So this fall, staff set up a table to facilitate all of the deliveries made on any given day.
In the aftermath of a late April shooting in the Blake High School parking lot, the school announced several changes to bolster security. Banning food deliveries on the campus was among them.
Montgomery County, Maryland鈥檚 largest school district, doesn鈥檛 have a districtwide policy banning student food deliveries and the rules vary from campus to campus. Few D.C.-area districts have policies addressing that.
DoorDash vs. school lunch
Chris Cram, a district spokesman, told 草莓传媒 there鈥檚 鈥渘ot a guideline, regulation or policy, but this is something that it seems needs to be addressed as a safety matter, much as has been done for Blake HS.鈥�
Parents skeptical of the idea raised those safety concerns, but others said it鈥檚 a convenient alternative for their kids.
鈥淓verybody harps back about, 鈥榃ell, your kids have the option to pack,鈥欌�� said Lisa Castillo, whose kids attend Damascus High School.
鈥淏ut they don鈥檛. High school, you鈥檙e preparing them for college, so mommy and daddy are not packing lunches every day. These kids have to learn to pack their own lunches because they just throw away what they don鈥檛 eat and that鈥檚 just wasteful.鈥�
Sometimes, Castillo said, students order in groups with friends to help cut down on delivery fees. Drivers often pick up several orders if they know they鈥檙e going to the same school, she said.
Juniors and seniors at Damascus have open lunch, she said, which enables them to leave the school campus if they choose to. But Castillo said the open lunch concept is largely a privilege for kids who have cars and drive to school.
Nonetheless, she prefers her kids order the food to be delivered so they don鈥檛 have to leave. They place orders two or three times each week.
Packed lunches come in stapled bags
Delivery drivers push a button asking to be let into the office, are allowed in and then put the orders on a communal table, Castillo said.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e not ordering Ruth鈥檚 Chris (Steak House),鈥� Castillo said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a small area of delivery places that they could even walk to. 鈥� I don鈥檛 like them leaving the grounds. So we have a Chick-fil-A in Mount Airy that can be delivered, a Burger King, Starbucks, Hornet鈥檚 Nest, Ledo Pizza.鈥�
Conversely, Iannaco-Hahn said her kids only ordered food delivery during the school day if they鈥檙e paying for it.
鈥淭hey could either use their school lunch money to buy school lunch that I put on their accounts or they can make their own lunch at home,鈥� Iannaco-Hahn said.
Some Northern Virginia students, though, don鈥檛 face that choice.
Fairfax County Public Schools doesn鈥檛 allow kids to have food delivered to schools by delivery drivers, a spokeswoman said.
Nearby Prince William County schools don鈥檛 have a policy that restricts food deliveries, but a division spokeswoman said schools 鈥済enerally prohibit third-party delivery to students during the school day. Parents who wish to bring food for their child are encouraged to contact the school in advance to make appropriate arrangements.鈥�
Loudoun County doesn鈥檛 have a districtwide ban either, and in some high schools, there鈥檚 a table inside the door for student and staff deliveries to be placed, a spokesman said.
A D.C. Public Schools spokesman didn鈥檛 respond to 草莓传媒’s question about whether the city allows food deliveries.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big thing,鈥� Iannaco-Hahn said. 鈥淎 lot of schools have the same thing, where they鈥檙e getting tons of food deliveries.鈥�
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