By Brendan Burke, staff writer
Students have been adjusting to the new security changes during this past school year and they should expect to see more in the future. Being established in the 2019-2020 school year, sophomore students will no longer be eligible to leave for lunch until the second semester of the school year.
On top of that, all students will no longer be able to leave unless they have a 2.8 GPA or higher and they cannot be failing any class.
This was decided over the summer, after an agency came in to do an inspection of the school and they came to the conclusion that certain rules needed to change.
Prospect High School principal Greg Minter said that students can no longer be going off campus as they please, which is why new security measures are being put into action.
“Kids can no longer be coming and going,” said Minter. “This new rule will definitely help security issues.”
Open campus is a privilege that students have enjoyed for a countless number of years, but this new rule may not be very popular amongst students, especially the first class to be affected, the current freshmen.
Freshman Sean Beihoffer said that he does not look forward to this new rule and he does not understand how it affects security.
“I’m not excited for this new change,” Beihoffer said, “I’d be able to drive during my first semester and now the freedom I looked forward to is being restricted.”
Minter said that most students will probably not enjoy this change mainly because it restricts them from leaving. Sophomore Libby Ferraro also does not understand how this fixes security because the sophomores get to leave during second semester anyway.
“I enjoy leaving for lunch,” Ferraro said, “I don’t understand how this new rule will help, it just doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Ferraro and Beihoffer both said that the new GPA rule made sense because open campus is a privilege and it is something that you earn.
2.8 is the “magic number” for a GPA because according to District 214, this number is a good indicator for getting into a college or having postsecondary success after high school.
Adding on to the open campus change, next year students may have to wear their IDs on their neck for the entirety of the day. A similar policy is in place in District 211
“Our main goal is to keep students safe,” said Minter, “but we also want them to succeed. we’re only looking out for their best interest.”