- Event meant to celebrate heritage, connect students with grandparents
- Long lines, cold food, and lack of seats leave many grandparents disappointed
- School district apologizes for inconvenience, promises to improve planning for future events
Armando Cerna Elementary School in Eagle Pass, Texas hosted their first annual Grandparents Day Lunch on Wednesday, September 13th. The event was supposed to be a celebration of heritage and a chance for students to connect with their grandparents, but it turned out to be a disappointment for many.
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Grandparents who attended the lunch said that the school had requested that they RSVP in order to gather a count of the visitors. They were also told that the lunches would be staggered by grade level to alleviate the lines. However, the grandparents said that the lines were long and the schedule was behind, and by the time the third graders were being served, the food for the grandparents was already gone.
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“We were really disappointed,” said one of the grandparents. “We had been looking forward to this event for a week, and it was a mess. The lines were long, and they stopped serving Grandparents. It was clear that the school wasn’t prepared for the number of people who showed up.”
Another grandparent said that she was “furious” with the school’s handling of the event. “They had all the information they needed to plan for this,” she said. “They knew how many grandparents were coming, and they knew how many meals they needed to prepare. But they just didn’t do it. It was a slap in the face to the grandparents who came out to support their grandchildren.”
The Maverick Times News then called the Eagle Pass Independent School District to speak with Superintendent Mijares directly about the situation. Here is what we learned:
- Grandparents stopped being served because of the concern of not having enough meals for the student body.
- Grandparents were charged $5 for the meals and had to RSVP to the invitation to attend the event.
- The Principal’s name is Juan P. Leija.
- The event lacked the necessary coordination leaving many Grandparents upset, some in attendance of the event traveled from out of town to rejoice in the First Annual Grandparent Luncheon at Armando Cerna Elementary.
The school district has apologized for the inconvenience and said that they are working to improve the planning for future events.
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Wow. That’s a heartbreaker.
Poor grandparents.
If there is a silver lining, however, school district officials should recognize the fact that these families are engaged, and clearly committed to the success of their children.
If the district wanted to make it right, they should start scheduling “make goods”, maybe only one grade’s worth of grandparents a day though. Grandparents week instead of Grandparents day.