Confirmed

The west wing cafeteria will not return this school year due to staff shortages.

After students received an email that the West Wing cafeteria would be closed on Feb. 14, they were forced to go upstairs to the main cafeteria for their lunch. The next day, only three lunch tables were available in the area for those who still wanted to sit at the same spot, but no food was served there like usual. Now it has almost been a month later and the small cafeteria hasn’t made a comeback.

Students usually prefer this cafeteria due to its convenient location and its quieter environment compared to the main cafeteria. “I just hope that area will be open very soon, it is important to me because I don’t like to see my friends struggling with getting food and coming back to this area [the West Wing cafeteria],” said Joseph Alarape ‘23.

According to Secretary Brooke Overholt, the smaller cafeteria was closed due to a shortage of staff. Ever since the pandemic hit, the country had been struggling with employment; Iowa’s schools are no different. The cafeteria staff had lost two workers, this resulted in long lunch lines due to the increase in the staff to student ratio. Not to mention that the cafeteria doesn’t serve West’s students only, but six nearby elementary schools. The situation became absurd to the point that some of the office staff had to help serve lunch for one day in order to facilitate the crowdedness of the main cafeteria. 

However, some students aren’t happy with how the situation had been shared with them; students only received an email that it is closed for Monday, but never had a follow-up on why it was decided or when it will end. “They should have sent an email saying, ‘Sorry about the confusion, but it’s going to be closed for the rest of the year due to a shortage of staff.’ I feel like people could understand that way better than just having to figure it out themselves,” said Senabou Kone ‘22.

Students who usually use the West Wing cafeteria wish that it will open again, but according to the Kitchen Director Liz Kanagy, they don’t plan on having it open anytime sooner than next year. “I am hoping next fall we will have a full staff and be able to reopen it,” Kanagy said.