'Jesus Lunch' organizers hopeful after school district decides to end lease of park

The people behind "Jesus Lunch" were able to breathe a sigh of relief when officials of Middleton High School announced they will end their lease of the park where the daily lunches were held, a move that could end the disagreement between the lunch organizers and the school district.

The disagreement began when "Jesus Lunch" faced the threat of being stopped after Middleton High School Principal Steve Plank and District Administrator Don Johnson instructed the lunch organizers to cease their activities at Fireman's Park.

In a letter addressed to the students' parents, the school officials said the activity is a violation of school policies because the organizers are not official visitors of the school. They added that the lunches were being held at a park that was leased to the school, giving the school jurisdiction over the activity.

The organizers, however, remained unfazed and pressed for their First Amendment right to continue the lunches. They said the lease did not make the park private property.

"Although the school district contends that it is school grounds because they have a lease, the public still has a right to use the park during school hours," "Jesus Lunch" organizers said in a statement.

The issue has caused division among the parents of Middleton students, according to Johnson. He said the parents who hosted the lunches had a dialogue with Plank but would not consider alternatives.

"We have both in writing and verbally asked to meet with [them], their response has been 'talk to our attorney,'" Johnson said.

To end the controversy and to avoid the necessity of going to court, the school administrator pushed for the termination of the school's lease of Fireman's Park.

"City attorney Matt Fleming has indicated that the city believes the District's authority to enforce school rules in Fireman's Park is questionable, and that the city has no interest in litigation to resolve the ambiguities in the language," he said in a statement.

The "Jesus Lunch" organizers received the announcement with hope that it will end the controversy and allow them to continue hosting the lunches.

"Our intention all along was to have it at a public place and so the school wouldn't have to be part of it and so we're glad that has been alleviated," Beth Williams, one of the moms involved in the activity, said.

"Jesus lunch" started in 2014 as an initiative of some moms to provide free lunches to Middleton students and share Biblical principles to them.