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To all students in Hawaii public schools, school meals have been announced free this year. This has caused long lunch lines. On some days, it can take the entire lunch and lunch recess period for all students to be served. The lunch line starts to form even before the lunch bell rings as students try to get a jump start on obtaining their meal.
One student, who wished to remain anonymous, comments, “I do not like waiting in line, in the sun, with people crowding and chatting around me, some not wearing their masks correctly for 15 minutes each day.” Sometimes it can take longer than that. “I don’t eat lunch anymore because of all the people cutting. Honestly, sometimes I even move backwards,” the student adds. Skipping lunch during school can have negative effects on students as well. Freshman Kamaile Corpuz-Butihi states, “Skipping lunch is mostly because of the lines… I feel as if I’m sick in my last period and I can’t even stand up, as like I have no energy.” Kamaile isn’t the only one, as many students can feel the same way when they don’t eat lunch or have a proper meal.
Vice Principal Kelcie De Mello has had the task of overseeing student meals throughout the pandemic. “Usually, by about 12:40 pm, there are no students waiting in line outside the cafeteria, so they’ll be served at around 12:40 pm,” De Mello explains. Lunch period at Maui High ends at 12:45 pm, followed by ten minutes reserved for recess in which students can relax, talk to teachers, go to club meetings, or hang out with friends. The current situation leaves some students only about 5 minutes to eat their meals before dipping into allotted free time.
School administration has been working on ways to speed up the lunch lines. De Mello explains there were two lines to start the school year, and they added a third line to address the issue. The addition improved the lunch lines significantly. Students can expect to see continuous changes that will benefit their lunchtime.