Questionable school cafeteria choices also come down to timing in New York City, where many students in the public school system are forced to eat lunch before noon. Data compiled by WNYC and the Daily News shows that of the city's 1,683 public schools, 56.3% have served lunch by 11 a.m. Of those, 113 schools have served lunch by 10 a.m., meaning some students are sitting down for brunch earlier than most Williamsburg restaurants start seating on weekends.
Eighteen-year-old senior Lalita Sarjue at Queen's Jamaica High School begins her school day at 8:50 a.m. and eats "lunch" at 9:07 a.m. Anthony Gonzalez, a 14-year-old freshman at Knowledge and Power Prep Academy in the Bronx, has his lunch period at 9:09 a.m. daily. "It's like eating breakfast twice," he explains. "By noon I'm a little tired. My eyes get drowsy and I'm not as focused as I would be." On the flip side, some students don't eat lunch until almost 1:30 p.m., many hours after they've already been at school.
General overcrowding in addition to the combining of small schools under one roof has been blamed for the inappropriate meal times. In 2012, students at IS 25 in Queens were given a "brunch" period because there were too many students to accommodate in two lunch periods. Newly appointed Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina found the data "disturbing" and will investigate further and work towards finding a solution.
