ALBEMARLE, N.C. -- It's lunchtime at Kendall Valley School near Albemarle and along with fruit and vegetables, whole wheat pizza is on the menu.

David Hunt came to the school to have some with his daughter and her buddies.

“I get up here once every couple of months. I always get something from the cafeteria. It's always been good,” he said.

The menu is part of Stanly County Schools' new approach to healthy eating, an approach that means fast food isn't welcome in this and many other lunch rooms -- even if mom and dad want to bring some in for themselves.

“Their policy is that they are stopped at the office when they bring food in and are sent somewhere else to eat it,” said Alison Francis, who oversees all of the cafeterias in Stanly County Schools.

Francis also oversees the healthy eating program that started a couple of years ago when the state picked Stanly County and six others to test a healthier diet.

But some parents told Eyewitness News the school district has taken the idea too far.

“I think it infringes on my rights as a parent. That's my job,” said parent Billy Frick.

Frick said he's also for healthy eating, but like many other parents, he said the lunchroom ban on fast food is extreme.

“If it got to be an everyday thing, I could understand it, but if I go twice a year to eat with my son, why can't I sit down in the cafeteria and eat with him?” Frick asked.

Dr. Samuel De Paul, Stanly County Schools superintendent, said perhaps the district pushed too far too fast with dietary guidelines that also put limits on what's served at most school parties. Birthday cakes and ice cream aren’t allowed, for example.

But De Paul said he didn't expect the backlash that's generated letters to the editor at local newspapers and angry calls from parents.

Even teachers who've been told they can't reward students with sweet treats.

“I think the teachers and the parents have a right to -- unless it's something legally or medically wrong - -to have their kids eat whatever they want them to eat,” said Doc Morton, a retired teacher.

De Paul said the district is working on revising the rules before the school board votes on a final, firm policy later this month.

Parents said they will be watching very closely to see what's on the menu and what's not welcome.