Off-Campus Lunch Forum for SRVHS Thursday

Local business owners, parents and students will have the opportunity to discuss off-campus lunch privileges for San Ramon Valley High Seniors in a forum at the school's cafeteria on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m.

No final decision will be made at the gathering, but input from the community is welcomed, said Terry Koehne  the school district's community relations director in an email.

An article from the school's newspaper in 2012 explains that beginning in the 2013-2014 school year, only seniors would be permitted to walk off-campus for lunch. No driving.

Previously, juniors and seniors were permitted to eat lunch off-campus, and a rule against driving to the destination was never enforced.

San Ramon Valley High is blocks away from downtown Danville, and students are given 35 minutes for lunch time.
Since the school year, some students have started an online petition against the rule, which gathered 350 signatures.

In articles appearing on Patch about the subject, commenters brought up the issue of local business being affected by the loss of a lunch crowd.

"Let the Juniors and Seniors go off campus. It helps boost local businesses, allows the students to practice being more responsible for themselves, and alleviates the pressures on one small cafeteria trying to feed and fit over 2000 students in a 35 minute period," commented Lin Teichman in an article earlier this month.

"I think the key word is "walk". It is feasible to have juniors and seniors be able to walk off campus for lunch provided parents sign a waiver of liability. But please do not allow them to drive off campus. I have seen so many accidents (3 fatalities) happen in a district that allowed the children to drive away for lunch. It was a disaster," commented user Barbara Tahir in an article about the scheduled forum.