Osceola High School students say a shorter period and long lines means there's not enough time to eat lunch. They are petitioning for change.

  • New academic program leads to shorter lunch period at Osceola High
  • Student petition has more than 3,000 signatures
  • Students say new lunch period is too short

Video taken by a student during lunchtime shows Osceola High School’s cafeteria filled with kids. The long lines go out the door. Overcrowding within Osceola County Public Schools is an issue we’ve reported on in the past.

Students want to bring back the old one-hour lunch periods, and a Change.org petition online has more than 3,000 signatures.

“It’s so crazy, I have to run to get to lunch,” said Niyah Harris, a senior at Osceola High. She believes there just isn’t enough time to eat.

“I started the petition because all the students at Osceola High School were complaining about not being able to eat and how lunch was too short,” she explained. “I felt like it was in me to start a petition because I felt like no one else was going to speak for these kids.”

The petition has gained traction among students and parents. “It’s not just me, it’s affecting all students of Osceola,” she said.  

Some parents and students say this wasn’t a problem at Osceola High last year as they used to get one hour lunches. However the school’s new principal is enforcing an academic program called LASSO. This means kids get a half hour for lunch and the other half hour is used for extra help from teachers -- meant to enhance student achievement.

But Harris said for some students, school lunch is their only meal for the day. “Lunch is not making everyone’s grades go down,” Harris said.

Harris, who one day hopes to get into law school, will be graduating this year. But for those peers she is leaving behind, she hopes the administration listens.

“So I want to speak up for everybody, like, even if I am leaving,” she added. “I want to make sure their voices are heard before I leave.”

A spokesperson with the school district said new lunch lines at Osceola High started this school year. Cafeteria managers and principals are monitoring lunch lines and making adjustments as needed.