closed campus

Closed Campus: What’s Up With That?!
By Jordan Brickman

Having a brother that is five years older, I have always heard stories from Hen Hud alumni about what has affectionately become known as the school’s “Glory Days”. Part of those days was the ability for students to enjoy the various restaurants that surround the Hen Hud campus, such as: “The Mexican Café”, “Two Brothers Pizzeria”, “Dunkin Donuts”, “Subway”, as well as other restaurants that are easily within a five minute drive of the school.

I would often fantasize, while eating Blue Mountain Middle School’s less than spectacular entrées, about one day being able to eat Two Brother’s Pizza and Mexican food every day. However, when I first came to Hen Hud I learned that I was at the beginning of a phasing out of the school’s open campus policy. As a freshman in 2004 the upper-classmen were allowed to leave campus, a privilege they would often gloat about, however, I usually shook off the upper-classmen telling myself that I would one day be able to enjoy the same privileges that my elders enjoyed. Although, my dreams would once again be crushed once I learned that by the time I was an upper-classmen the high school would become a completely closed campus. Meaning I could not enjoy “real” pizza whenever my freshman heart desired.

I recently sat down with our Sailor spirited principal, Mr. Mackin, to discuss the reasons why the campus was closed and if the campus could ever be re-opened. Mr. Mackin explained that, although he agrees with the policy, Mr. McCarthy was the principal whom originally devised the plan for a closed campus. When the school did have an open campus our current cafeteria did not exist, and the prior cafeteria consisted of only two small “eating rooms” that could not hold every student who had lunch at that time.

Therefore, once the district decided to build a new cafeteria they always had in mind a closed campus, partially because the students who had lunch could actually fit into their cafeteria. Another reason the campus was closed was because of the safety issue. According to Mr. Mackin, students would arrange fights to take place across the street from the high school, to avoid being suspended. In addition, the school is responsible for the students during the time they are in class (yes, lunch is technically a class) and should a student get hit by a car, or get into a car accident the school would be held responsible. A third reason the campus was closed was the obvious reason of, students leaving and not returning to finish the day.

On the flip side, students couldn’t disagree more with the school’s policy. Senior Andrew Bell felt that the closed campus was wrong. He feels that the school should respect our responsibilities as young adults, and that we are more than capable of going to get food and returning to the school within 40 minutes. Another senior, Noah Portes Chaikin, had a slightly more sophisticated look at the situation: “they are doing a poor job of completely eliminating it [the closed campus], mostly because they're creating a pseudo-black market by completely closing the campus. What they should do is take off the shackles but protect themselves from liability, which is seemingly the largest hurdle.” Although Noah believes that the campus being closed is wrong, he also sympathizes with the tough decision that the district is forced to make.

Not only does the closed campus force the students to eat the mediocre cafeteria food, but it also involves a greater impact in the community. The Nextel store across the street used to be an incredibly popular hangout known as “the candy store”. As a friend of the owner, I learned that once the campus was closed he lost over $200 on a daily basis. That is $1000 during the school week, and $4000 a month. Clearly, the closed campus affected the store’s profits, and likely caused the store to close. I have also heard from a reliable source that other stores, such as “Two Brother’s Pizzeria” have struggled to make money the past few years. When I asked Mr. Mackin for his take on the situation he sympathized with the store owners, but reiterated that the school has to focus on safety, it is the main concern for any school, behind education.

When I asked our principal if the campus would eventually re-open he encouraged the students to take the initiative and create a system where the students can be trusted to leave. He would like for discussion to be created and for a group of students, similar to what happened with the student lounge, where an open campus could easily be watched. Although he acknowledged the possibility for an open campus he also admitted that it is a “tough road to climb” because students are battling the safety issue, which is a major part of school.