Oakland Mills Will No Longer Run on Dunkin’

It’s Lights Out for the Local Dunkin’ Donuts

It comes as a surprise to the Oakland Mills community, and a major blow to Oakland Mills High Schoolers, that the Oakland Mills Village Center’s Dunkin Donuts will be permanently closing on April 4th. This is a result of OMHS parents and community members urging a petition to have the location closed, because of the proximity it has to the school. This prompts students to break school conduct and leave the campus in favor of visiting the fast food joint. Not only does the petitioning community view this as a disruption of the student’s learning, but also a huge safety concern. As a result, on March 28th the Dunkin Donuts headquarters broke their silence and revealed that they’d be permanently closing the location.

Of course, this has caused a discrepancy between the community with students being outraged. An anonymous sophomore at OMHS exclaimed “This sucks. Pizzaman doesn’t even open until 10:30!” Ola Odeseye, a junior at OMHS, came to a similar sentiment saying “I’m very upset, I love their hashbrowns. That’s so not fair to everyone.” Surprisingly, even some OMHS staff are against the closing of the Dunkin Donuts. This is evident with Ms. Anderson-Little, a teacher at OMHS, and Dr. Fink, the school’s principal, stated “I’m very upset about this. I go to the Dunkin like two or three times a week. They know me. I also get to see OM alumni faces everytime I go” and “That is a shame because of how much they support the growth of the village center and provide lunch for the student body.” However, the school’s staff whose responsibilities are more directly catered to student protection are all for the closing. The SRO of the school, Officer Garrett relayed “This will impact the safety of our school in a positive way. I don’t think the students of OM understand the safety issues involved with them leaving campus” and Ben Nunley, a security guard at OM, echoed “This sure will make my job a lot easier. It’s been challenging trying to get kids to stop leaving the building.”

Unfortunately, for those in the community who are against the action it is too late. With the Village Center’s Dunkin permanently closing an economic hole is formed and a fan favorite is gone. For those concerned about student’s safety, this will hopefully keep students on campus and under the supervision of trusted adults and staff.