Staff Writer
The shortest distance to any location is always a straight line, or a path that is as direct as possible, and due to a new security policy at Prospect, some students now have to take a longer, less direct route to their lockers and classrooms in the morning rush to school.   This new policy is that door 35, which is in the band hallway, is now locked in the morning when it previously was not.
Students who use the parking lot or are dropped off by the cafeteria are now routed to door 30, previously known as door 22, which is the only door close to the parking lot to remain unlocked.
Dean Mark Taylor said there are two reasons for the new door policy, both due to the amount of traffic that door 35 has received.
Since the door was unlocked and a closer walk to students’ lockers, parents would let their kids out of the car in front of the door. This would halt the traffic that flows through the parking lot every morning.  Taylor said that this created a “backlog at Kensington,” which made the already slow traffic situation worse.
Sophomore Mike Stevens used to go in through the door every morning like many other students and said that the new policy only creates a hassle for him.  Stevens said that he is “upset” about the new policy because he used to take his time when he walked to his locker in the morning, but now has to hustle and make sure he gets into the school by a certain time.
Senior Eric Klaus said though, that the new policy “doesn’t really bother” his commute to school every day, it has affected his friends in band.
Although the door may create a new burden for many people in the morning, Klaus said it also leads to funny situations.  “You just hear a bunch of knocking from the door,” Klaus said. “And sometimes someone will knock back in a different rhythm just to annoy the person outside.”
Another problem with door 35 being open was that there was no security guard staffed to watch the door as students streamed in.
Taylor said that the “school staff continue to look at ways to secure the building better,” and that this was a “loophole” in the security system that needed to be closed since anyone could potentially walk in.
Although Taylor knows that this new policy will throw off students’ morning routines, he said that if students allow more time to get to school, the door will not be missed.
“Students need to get used to the rhythm of everything,” Taylor said. “When they do, it will flow smoothly again.”