PRO:
With the start of a new school year, San Marcos is witnessing a change in school policy. One of the most controversial changes this year is the permission for all grade levels to leave campus during lunch. A large majority of underclassmen are excited for this opportunity, while many upperclassmen feel that this policy is unjust. Some upperclassmen feel it is unfair that they didn’t have the opportunity to leave campus during lunch, when they were underclassmen. While I can empathize with this argument, the new school policy comes with countless benefits.
Restricting certain grades to leave campus during lunch required several campus security personnel to actively check student IDs at campus entrances. By removing the need for checkpoints, campus security workers are able to patrol the Turnpike Shopping Center. The proximity of the shopping center to San Marcos results in a major flow of students to the area during lunch. This is accompanied by increased theft committed by students during lunch hours. By patrolling the Turnpike Shopping Center during lunch, campus security employees are able to keep both students and store property safe.
“It seems only fair that underclassmen should have the same opportunity to leave campus as upperclassmen do,” said senior Roman Gismlamberti.
In addition to the safety benefits of the new policy, underclassmen now have the opportunity to enjoy a larger choice of food options for lunch. This gives underclassmen more freedom at the beginning of their high school experience.
CON:
From crowded stop lights to crowded streets, and now crowded grocery stores. Due to a new modification of the off campus rule, all grades can now go off campus, this is not only an inconvenience to students in other grades, but also to the general public around our campus. Two years ago before this new modification this rule had been that only upperclassmen can go off campus. It hadn’t been until last year that sophomores were finally allowed off campus. The purpose of this rule had been to create a safe environment for all students. This allowed security to be aware of how many kids left campus, they were also able to keep a close eye on the area near San Marcos. However; now crowds are way too big and there is no one guarding any entrances to the school. All security guards are off campus with these crowds to make sure the shopping center is safe, but who’s making sure the school itself is safe?
“I think that it is a bit unfair that freshmen are now allowed to go off campus since I had to wait till junior year. Also, I think it makes things more
difficult for the surrounding businesses” said senior Chris Castillo.
Castillo makes a great point in which he states that higher grades had to wait for the opportunity to be able to go off campus until they were at least juniors. Now that this opportunity has been given to everyone it is very unfair, because it takes the privilege of being an upperclassmen away. It seems that every year the school continues to bend these rules for the incoming grades. Which completely disregards the higher grades that have to readjust to these modifications every year. Chris also says that this would also make surrounding businesses jobs even harder. The crowds of high schoolers that gather make it impossible for anyone to walk through. Due to this rush of freshmen, employees have to be prepped and ready in order to clean, and organize the trail of things that have been dropped, misplaced, or even broken by these freshmen crowds. Once the lunch bell rings there is nowhere you can go while trying to go off campus.
No matter where you go off campus there is a huge possibility that you will be jammed into a confined space with a huge group of people which are most likely 40% upperclassmen and 60% freshmen. Because of these drastic percentages this will cause students to become more and more tardy while returning to school from lunch. This change may be exciting and a new experience to the freshmen, however, for the other grades above them it certainly is a hassle. By doing this freshmen run the risk of having multiple tardies which can lead to detention.
