For most Prior Lake High School students, we’d become accustomed to the four-lunch schedule, often comparing with one another which lunch we had from either A to D. However, that came to an end this year.
For the 2023-24 school year, Prior Lake administration has removed D lunch in favor of a three-lunch schedule. In concept, this reduces the number of split classes, or classes divided by a lunch period. However, the change has caused some unfortunate drawbacks.
Overcrowding is the most prominent issue, as lines stretch out of the serving area and nearly past the learning stairs. Wait times are “less than ten minutes, but anywhere in that time,” said Junior Kale Solem. “Not terrible, but certainly daunting,” he said.
For comparison, an average lunch period at PLHS is 30 minutes, meaning roughly a third of the entire period is spent with students waiting in line.
Additionally, lunchroom tables are regularly overfilled. Finding an empty seat is close to impossible these days, and larger social groups often can’t find enough seats for everyone. This leaves clusters of students standing around certain tables trying to eat, talk, and not spill their food all at once.
On the flip side, students who are not a part of larger social cliques are left to fend for themselves, either sitting as a stranger among an alien group of friends or even finding a spot on the Learning Stairs. This year, students note the stairs are almost always filled with students, and they’re not exactly designed for comfortably eating lunch.
While long wait times and filled tables are bothersome, even more problematic is the situation for MNCAPS students who simply don’t get a scheduled lunch.
MNCAPS students, or students who take more specialized classes outside of the high school to suit their career/educational pathways, are required to leave PLHS at certain times and commute to their building in Lakeville. Problematically, they leave during lunch periods.
“It makes it interesting because I don’t get a lunch,” Junior Donovan Schafroth said. “Some days I have five minutes,” he said.
Fortunately for MNCAPS students, an end is in sight.
“We made sure they were all in a class that had C lunch,” said Mark Paulsen, Assistant Principal at Prior Lake, regarding the upcoming 2nd quarter.
However, students hoping for shorter wait times and a spot to sit are in for disappointment as no plans are in place to return D Lunch.
Paulsen said that teachers “really like three lunches because it improves the instructional environment,” by “reducing transitions and split lunches.”
Additionally, Paulsen said that the average lunch size for the largest lunch this year is smaller than years previously; dropping from an average 950-1000 students during the four-lunch schedule to an average of 820 students for the new three-lunch schedule.
While this seems better overall, it doesn’t change the reality of longer than usual wait times and overcrowding during lunch. In fact, with the MNCAPS students being shuffled to C lunch, it remains unclear if wait times could improve, or even get worse.
