A small group of unruly teenagers has forced a local restaurant owner in Santee to close his dining room when the nearby school gets released for the day.
The owner of the Del Taco near Santana High School, Duane Johnson, is having to close the restaurant's dining room every weekday between 2:00 P.M. to 3:30 P.M.
“Most of the kids around here are great," Chambers, who lives by the school and restaurant told NBC7. "They’re great kids. They’re good kids. They’re very respectful.”
Apparently, it's a small group of unruly kids who have ruined it for everyone, according to Chambers.
Some of the teenagers coming from high school are known to misbehave and treat Johnson's employees poorly.
That's why he has decided to close his Del Taco dining room when the school bell rings at 2:00 P.M. and doesn't reopen it until 3:30 P.M.
“When that 0.1% comes in, they’re pretty bad,” Deshawn Blue, who works in a Santee-area store, told NBC7. "A lot of kids will come in and just start throwing stuff around and make noise and not buy anything."
A spokesman for the Grossmont Union High School District released a statement that reads:
“Mr. Johnson is a great Santee business owner, and the Santana High School administration appreciates his dedication to the Santee community. The administration is aware of this issue and will continue notifying any students' parents that are acting in a way that is negative and disrespectful. We’ll need their partnership to help stop this behavior. The school wants to remain good neighbors and have all of our students act in a way that is respectful, positive, and appropriate.”
Johnson said the drive-thru remains open in the afternoon when the dining room is closed, and he hopes to completely reopen once the small group of teens starts behaving better.