Introducing off-campus lunch at Flower Mound, provided there are some safety precautions, would drastically improve students’ spirits.

A simple system of check-in, check-out could work: students would have to check in at a designated location to receive a lunch pass and check back in when they come back. Or perhaps there could be a designated day of the week for off-campus lunch. Every Wednesday, because of the Jag Time bell schedule, every lunch is extended by six minutes, which would add just enough time to leave school and come back.

Allowing students to travel off-campus for lunch could also potentially ease burdens for feeding nearly 4,000 students every day. Even in our affluent area, LISD could still benefit from the reduced spending on student lunch and reallocate the funds for different uses, such as arts and sciences. And it would definitely ease the workload of the school’s cafeteria staff as well.

In Decatur ISD, sophomores, juniors, and seniors are allowed to travel off-campus for lunch. There is a designated behavior coordinator at every high school in the district, and that person could be the principal or any other administrator. Their jurisdiction extends over off-campus lunch as well.

But, for every Decatur ISD there is a Killeen ISD.  In 2015, in Killeen ISD, four students were involved in a fatal accident that killed two people. The students of the car were purportedly attempting to race another car full of students while getting lunch off-campus. And in 2016, a 16-year-old student was struck by a vehicle while she was returning from lunch.

There must be extra safety precautions taken if students misbehave or act dangerously when off campus. If students are given adequate time to leave campus, wait in line for food, and make their way back to the cafeteria, there would be no need for students to rush through traffic. It could add an enjoyable leisure time for students in the middle of their day.

Off-campus lunch should give students a certain level of accountability–after all, it’s the school that is liable if anything happens to a student. Students must obey the speed limit, stay off their cell phones while driving, and follow the crosswalk when walking.

Off-campus lunch could be a great boon to the student population–if it’s implemented properly. With great power comes great responsibility.