A group of students with developmental and learning disabilities were denied service at a restaurant while participating in a life skills learning program with teachers, Charles County Public Schools said.

In a community email, CCPS Superintendent Maria Navarro wrote that 11 students and seven staff members visited a Cracker Barrel in Waldorf, Maryland, on Tuesday after informing the restaurant in advance of the group’s size and purpose. They were told they didn’t need a reservation.

When they arrived, they were denied service, and a restaurant employee requested that he be removed from the list of businesses willing to participate in the program, known as community-based instruction, the superintendent said.

“It broke my heart,” said Dustin Reed, whose 7-year-old daughter is nonverbal.

The group was able to place a pickup order.

“Pushed to the side and just ignored,” Reed said. “They just wanted to go there to have something to eat, enjoy their time there and learn from it.”

He and Johnna Penrod comforted their daughter after she returned from the trip.

“Even if she can’t talk, you still talk to her like she can understand you, because she can,” Reed said.

A Cracker Barrel spokesperson issued a statement to News4 saying in part, “A staffing issue resulted in the closure of part of our second dining room that day, causing confusion that impacted the group’s experience.” We “We are taking this matter seriously and are working directly with the group’s leadership to better understand what happened, apologize and make things right.”

Small consolation for Reed and Penrod.

“Just because they have different abilities than us doesn’t mean they’re weaker than us,” Penrod said. “They deserve to be treated like human beings, they deserve to be loved, they deserve to be cared for. They deserve to be given morals.”

Since news of this incident became public, a number of Charles County businesses have come forward and volunteered to participate in this valuable life skills improvement program.

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