Last Monday, new safety procedures regarding the parking lot and their entrances and exits were put in place. All exits but one are blocked off by traffic cones from around 9:30 a.m. to a little before dismissal at 2 p.m.
“The main thing was just the amount of people we have coming in and out of the campus,” principal Dustin Toth said. “I think for security purposes, making sure that people that do come into the school have a reason to be here.”
This is something the administrators have been keeping an eye on since last year, but they only recently took action.
“A month ago they took data from two weeks and every day it was 50 plus kids leaving,” assistant principal Lara Mercer said. “So we were finally like, we’ve got to do something”
While it has only been in place for a week, there is already a noticeable change in the amount of traffic during school hours.
“In the short few days we’ve been doing that I’ve seen a change,” security staff member Dan Stillman said. “Students for the most part are very happy to comply and have their pass or they have an office slip for being checked out.”
Students were mainly leaving during Grove Time and would come back right after. The main issue with this was that something could go wrong while the student was off-campus and the school would be liable.
“Right now, I am responsible and the school’s responsible,” Mercer said. “If something happens, how horrible would that be, right? It just comes down to safety.”
Though students understand the procedures have been implemented due to safety concerns, not all of them are happy with the decision.
“I can see where they’re trying to protect students, but I do think it’s inconvenient at the same time,” junior Emma Bains said. “And I think there’s definitely a different way to approach this situation. I think putting up the cones and everything makes it feel more locked up.”
Some students believe that the new procedure doesn’t hold much of an impact.
“It’s unnecessary because it doesn’t solve anything,” junior Lucas Jiles said. “Kids are going to skip anyways, but it can be necessary because it scares kids.”
Despite the mixed opinions on the new procedure, it has significantly decreased the number of students leaving the building during instructional hours and doesn’t drastically impact their arrival or departure. The monitoring of entrances and exits allows the staff to keep an eye on both students and potential threats, ensuring the safety of everyone on campus.
