Close Idaho Falls-Area High School Campuses
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I think all Idaho Falls-area high schools should close their campuses for lunch. I believe closed campuses are best for our area because of time and distance required to reach eating establishments, unhealthy food is usually eaten when students leave campus,
Most local high schoolers only get 35 minutes for lunch, barely enough time to race out somewhere, wolf down unhealthy fast food, then race back to campus. In our city, there are no high schools where eateries are within walking distance, and usually students must drive through at least two stoplights to get to an eatery. This distance and traffic eats up the short lunch time, forcing students to drive faster and with more risk like running lights and tailgating.
When students leave class to get food, the only place they can get food in that short of time is fast food. Fast food is the most unhealthy for developing bodies. Therefore, open campuses actually contribute to rising obesity rates in teenagers. Why bother taking vending machines out of schools if open campus policies drive teens to fast food places?
These short lunches create situations where more students are often tardy or completely miss classes after lunch. I recall lunchtime was the worst time for me in high school, because we would be tardy getting back to class, and it was too easy to say forget it and skip the remaining day. I bet the local schools attendance statistics clearly show higher truancy rates after lunch than before.
Improving attendance rates should help schools get more state funds. I understand that state funding levels of our schools are tied to their attendance percentages. I also understand schools with closed campuses generally pay lower insurance costs, since schools are liable for student safety throughout the day.
Of course the biggest reason to close high school campuses is both student and public safety. We have all witnessed students racing dangerously around town during lunchtime. How many lunchtime road deaths must occur before campuses are inevitably closed?
I encourage you to google the topic, and you will see overwhelming reasons and opinions in favor of closed campuses. I particularly liked this report of a Denver school that is seeing remarkable success after closing campus.
I most liked their compromise, which I believe our local high schools should try. Students who have reached senior level in terms of credits (as opposed to just being there four years) should be given permits to leave campus at lunch. This policy creates extra incentive for students to not miss any credit opportunities in their freshman, sophomore, and junior years.
Schools can make the policy most effective by either issuing special permits that are easily seen from the car, or better yet designating one exit at lunch for vehicles to pass through, and have school personnel with clipboards inspecting and waiving through students who have permission to leave. I support this last method, because it eliminates a single teen from packing their vehicle with friends who do not have permission to leave. I have read that this is an excellent opportunity to involve parent and community volunteers.
Other methods to increase closed campus success is to stagger lunch periods (reducing lunchroom congestion and making it easier to control who can leave), invite food vendors to sell on campus in designated zones, offer free cafeteria food samples to students, and provide lunch activities like movies, demonstrations, topical debates, and even video games.
This week’s IdahoFallz.com poll topic is Do you think local high schools should close campus? The results so far are running 54% in favor, but it has varied between 65-55% all week.
What do you think?
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Comments
Vote:
0 
0 After growing up and attending a large 5A high school in Texas, I was surprised to see how much freedom students actually have on the campuses locally.
The idea that an off campus lunch had to be earned, kept my grades up for my last two years of high school.
When I first moved to Idaho Falls three years ago, I dreaded having to stop by my apartment during lunchtime. I lived down the street from Hillcrest High School. If I were on my way to the car when I heard the lunch bell, I would walk back inside. Cars PACKED FULL of students would SPEED down the street to the light at Hitt Road. Residents could not get out of the parking lot. That demonstration alone would cause me to vote for a closed campus. Most of the teens I was witness to were irresponsible drivers and I believe their parents would be shocked at the teen’s behavior and frighten to learn their child rode in a car with a driver like that.
If you don’t enjoy a campus lunch, pack one every morning and bring it with you.
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0 0 I like the idea of allowing seniors at least to leave campus for lunch. We’re trying to protect our children from themselves in nearly all areas of their lives. At some point they have to learn accountability and responsibility. In the seniors’ case at least, they will soon be out in the working world where there is very little tolerance for tardiness. In my day (the stone age) we were allowed to leave campus at lunch but not so many kids had cars and we weren’t so addicted to the fast food. In light of that, if we’re going to close the campus, we need to give them an alternative like the one suggested about what is available to eat. And another point is that as students get older they have things to take care of off campus, which they rightly or wrongly are choosing to do at lunch. My children left campus sometimes but they were retunring library books, taking paychecks to the bank, and so on. A magic fairy doesn’t come in on the eve of their 18th birthdays and whack them over the head after which they are suddenly blessed with knowledge and responsibility. It comes with practice and is learned at this age. It’s a tough issue. I’m still undecided but find myself leaning towards a graduated program with seniors or students who have proven themselves worthy by some established set of criteria.
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0 0 Maybe I should have been more clear, I also support the idea of giving upperclass members who have a track record of behaving responsibility some privileges that others don’t have. As far as running errands during the lunch break, that is more of a need for average working people than for students. Most students I know are out of school by 3 or 3:30, so they still have time to go to the bank, etc.
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0 0 I can see it both ways:
On one hand, I think a 16 year old should be responsible enough to handle themselves safely for 45 minutes while heading down to Domino’s at lunch. Lunch time provides a kind of “adult recess” for students who want to shake off the stress of school. It’s also good for local businesses to have 200-300 students out on the town for lunch time during the day.
Then again, students are always in a rush during lunch periods. When I was in my Freshman year of High School, I dated a girl who later jammed into the trunk of a friend’s car (yes, I know, that was mistake #1), and the driver was in too much of a hurry to cross the street that she pulled out in front of a truck, which stuck the car on the side. Shannon was parallized as a result of the accident.
Lunch on school grounds also gives students a chance to take part in clubs and other activities. I do know that when I was in school, lunch time was “puff time” - I’m sure you know what I mean. It also gives the school more income from selling lunch or allowing vendors to come into the schools.
However, again, there is that “public” factor, and being a public institution, High Schools have to pander to the shifting desires of the populace, and I believe most people, students included, want open campuses.
It’s only reasonable to me to close schools, now that I consider everything. But public policy isn’t based on reason.
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0 0 I went to high school over twenty years ago in a different state (in a suburb of Los Angeles).
We had three lunches (staggered to accomodate all three thousand students) and NOBODY was permitted off-campus for lunch without some kind of written agreement by a parent (kids of special diets, that kind of thing).
Even eightenn year old seniors were not allowed off campus for lunch.
This was a big city by Idaho standards - busy streets, no close by eateries, etc. All of us dealt with it - I bet nobody missed out on having a good life because of it, we ALL complained about it (the school one city over had open campus lunches), and that was that.
Students may not get what they want @ school - but they can always get it for dinner if they want it THAT badly.
I think open campuses for lunch is a dumb idea - I don’t know who came up with it (some McDonalds near a high school?) but I see no sense in it. Students piling into cars, rushing off to lard-a-matic food places, rushing back, getting to their next class late - running through traffic lights, piling into eateries. Really. What IS the sense of that?
There will be plenty of time to rush through life once one graduates. College affords lots of chances to make up for the fast food one might have missed in high school!
Vote me “For”.
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0 0 I worked in a retail store off of 17th for a couple of years and I absolutely dreaded lunch time. The stores location was located next to “Little Cesar’s” and the parking lot would be packed within minutes of the lunch bell. Good for Cesar bad for US, really bad. Customers were often boxed in for 45 min due to stupid parking antics.
There may be economic advantages for fast food joints but the open campus ruins the lunch hour for other businesses.
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0 0 I personally don’t see a problem with it because after all, do we all really need to be eating fast food each day for lunch? Not so much. You can understand why kids want to go off campus for lunch because the food they serve at schools leaves alot to be desired. There’s no variety and the food they do serve is pretty nasty.
I’ve been all over town during lunch hour and you can’t blame the traffic on the kids, everyone else goes out to eat during that time as well, so the traffic is going to be heavy regardless.
I say let them enjoy open campus. Like Inside Observer noted, its good practice for them to begin learning the value of returning back to class on time as well as other responsibilities.
I was in high school back in the early 80’s and we had open campus for the all high school students. I thought it was great. Sure we goofed off from time to time, but so what. If we didn’t make it back to class in time, there were consequences.
Closing campus certainly will not cut back on the traffic problem during lunch time in Idaho Falls. Too many people are out and about during that time as it is.
Just my opinion!
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0 0 I understand where you’re coming from Scoobysnax but I don’t see how you can say that “Closing campus certainly will not cut back on the traffic problem during lunch time in Idaho Falls.” If you eliminate hundreds of students driving around in a hurry it can’t help but decrease congestion somewhat. Sure, other people (adults) drive to lunch too, but most of them don’t have a cafeteria and vendors at their workplace. And most of them don’t get off work at 3 o’clock so they have a legitimate need to run errands on their lunch break sometimes.
There is another issue here, that is the safety of everyone else on the road. Teen drivers are proven to be the most dangerous on the road. Combine that with a car full of friends and not having enough time to safely drive to lunch and there are bound to be accidents. Here’s just one link with teen driving statistics.
http://rmiia.org/Auto/Teens/Teen_Driving_Statistics.htm
If the food choices are so bad, either let the students have a say in what’s offered, or open the campus to outside caterers who have more of what the students want. Or they can bring a lunch from home. I really think that closing campus would have more benefits than drawbacks. I’d like to think that I would feel the same way if I were still a student, but honestly I don’t know for sure.
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0 0 We are new here, so I don’t know what is offered for food in the schools here, but I have seen High Schools that have the restaurants come to them. Inside the cafeteria you could have three or four establishements that offer their own food. That way the kids get more variety and food they want but don’t have to leave campus for it.
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0 0 Lunchlady: Think about how it was when YOU were in HS. Did you have open campus? I’m beginning to think you didn’t. It seems those that didn’t have open campus when they were in HS, don’t want the kids to enjoy open campus nowadays.
Driving statistics should have nothing to do with this. YOU drove at that age, so they’re entitled to as well. Sure there’s a high accident rate for teens. But those accidents happen all the time, not just during school hours, but before, after and on the weekends.
Kids have enough restrictions on their lives as it is, I say give them the freedom and responsibility of an open campus. Just because it bothers you, don’t take it out on them.
Really, one could say the same about you. Why don’t YOU bring your lunch to work? If you don’t like all the traffic, why don’t you take your lunch at 11 or at 1 if you have errands to run? That’s what I do all the time and it works out beautifully. And if my wife wants to go out to lunch, I’ll bring a snack to work to tide me over, and then we’ll go eat lunch around 1:30 - 2, after the lunch crowd has left. It’s amazing how much quieter the restaraunts are, and easier the drive back to work is.
This post just seems rather frivolous to me. Let the kids enjoy their open campus, but with restrictions of course. Make it for Jrs & Seniors and if they are tardy coming back they get demerits. So many demerits and they lose their open campus privelages.
my 2 cents!
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0 0 Errr, I’ll bust that reasoning. I had open campus when I was in high school, and I support closed campuses.
Students will see this as an attempt to be mean and make high school like a prison. I wish there were a way to structure a closed campus proposal without making it seem that way, because it is not intended.
The closed campus proposal is all about concern for the safety of students, and trying to help students do better in school. I am sorry if opponents cannot recognize that, but it is true.
“Driving statistics should have nothing to do with this.”
Say what?!?! Driving statistics have everything to do with this proposal! Most student car accidents occur between 10am-2pm.
Yes, teens have to learn to drive, and experience can be a great teacher. However maturity is also a big factor, and that usually comes with age. Why do you think tougher teen driving restrictions are being discussed nationwide?
I do take my lunch to work, and many other people to, so please do not generalize that working adults do not when you have no idea what other people do. Not everyone has the luxury of picking when they can go to lunch, again you are generalizing about other people’s affairs when you have no idea.
The proposal is frivolous? Trying to make our city and our teenagers safer is frivolous? Trying to increase the quality of their education is frivolous?
And at the very end of your comment, you seem to come around and agree with the whole proposal! Close the campus except for students who have earned credits to be seniors or even juniors.
So despite your prior reasoning, you apparently are on the same side of this issue as the rest of us? Okeydokey…
Vote:
0 0 I went to school here in IF (Bonneville) and we had an open campus although if I remember right they did try to do it as a closed campus one year and it didn’t work out to well because there was no one watching the exits.
I had a car in high school and drove to and from school. However, I only left campus maybe 10 times over the 4 years for lunch. Honestly I hated putting up with the other drivers from the school because I didn’t trust them.
As for the lunch choices, sure some of the stuff was gross but we had 4 different choices of what we could eat for lunch each day for the main dish. With that selection everyone was able to find something they like.
As for the traffic issue, yes it would help out some but there really are plenty of adults with 30 minute lunch hours (or sometimes an hour) that still drive like idiots to try and hit the local burger joints. I think the other difference with these drivers is the fact that most employeers stagger their lunch hours for the employees so that they all don’t go at the same time. Imagine that traffic issues on the west side over on Skyline Drive if all of the Qwest and Center Partners employees went to lunch at the same time! It would be the same basic chaos as it is with the high schools.
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0 0 I’m sorry but having a closed campus has nothing to do with helping kids do better in school. We had open campus when I was in HS and I made A’s & B’s. It didn’t affect my grades one bit by leaving school during lunch to get a bite to eat. Where are you statistics that show kids do better in school with a closed campus?
There are enough rules and restrictions on our kids these days as it is, I say let them enjoy what few freedoms they have and leave well enough alone.
No matter how we slice & dice it, there will always be traffic and congestion during lunch time, whether our local high schools have open campus or not.
Personally it doesn’t affect me because I don’t eat fast food. And the driving doesn’t bother me either since I come from a big city, Idaho Falls traffic at its worst is still better than most cities across the country.
I think we’re just starting to nit pick here.
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0 0 There’s always individual differences between students. You could handle the responsibility, many cannot.
I read statistics yesterday about schools in Colorado and Arizona that clearly demonstrated significant average gains after closing campus. I’ll try to find them again.
Actually, I think today’s kids have more freedoms and benefits than any generation before.
Yes, there will always be traffic and congestion. Why expand from 2 lanes to 5 if there is just going to be congestion again?
Because we try to improve, rather than shrugging our shoulders and giving up.
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0 0 Well, I don’t know where to start.
Homeslice says “Really, one could say the same about you. Why don’t YOU bring your lunch to work? If you don’t like all the traffic, why don’t you take your lunch at 11 or at 1 if you have errands to run?”
Well, I don’t like the traffic and I like to conserve gas so as a matter of fact I work my day straight through and I DO bring my lunch to work. I don’t generally ask or expect anything of anybody that I wouldn’t do myself, in fact I make that my policy.
As for the comment “Just because it bothers you, don’t take it out on them.” Jeez, calm down. I never said it bothered me. I was just trying to discuss an issue of our community. Frankly it affects me much less than most other people. Oh, and your comment “Think about how it was when YOU were in HS. Did you have open campus? I’m beginning to think you didn’t. It seems those that didn’t have open campus when they were in HS, don’t want the kids to enjoy open campus nowadays.” Please, it’s not a matter of taking away somebody’s enjoyment. Who thinks that way, do you? Please don’t make so many assumptions about me. I said myself that I might feel differently if I were still a student.
It seems like this is a valid topic of discussion but when you have an opinion different than someone else’s, they accuse you of being frivilous or nit-picky. I have tried to respectfully engage in this debate, but this is all I have to say.
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0 0 I must say that the drivers I’ve encountered in Idaho - regardless of age - tend to be POOR drivers. This is mostly true in Madison and Fremont County - but even in Idaho Falls there appear to be plenty of people who have never conceived of the concept “close the gap”.
I don’t know that HS students are guilty of this annoyance and impediment to other drivers - but for the sake of THIS argument, I say - if teens can drive, because they have a license - they should be able to do exactly that.
Should they do it during lunch on school days?
I don’t think so - mostly because I REALLY don’t see (yet) a strong enough argument for it.
I don’t see it as punishing the students - I see it as just making SENSE. Plus, I like the “bringing caterers in” idea. Why can’t the local Golden Arches and Taco Bell have a truck come in for an hour every day with a selection of the half dozen most popular choices?
In my mind - it’s less to do with the roadways (as previously mentioned - I’ve seen PLENTY of adult Idaho drivers who seem not to sense traffic) and more to do with common sense. The students are @ school for a certain length of time - an extra half hour a day isn’t going to ruin their year, in fact it could help them get back to class on time and maybe attain a higher grade.
I go home for lunch with the job I have now - mostly because I live three miles from work. I’ve had jobs where I was not permitted to leave (only manager on the premises) so I’ve taken my lunch and sat in a corner to eat it as I could. Annoying? Sure @ times it was. That is the adult world - annoying @ times. High school students - THIS too is part of the real world.
I’m not saying that to be flippant (though some might assume I am). I am simply saying that off campus lunch does not make much sense to me. Were I a manager of a local food establishment, I might disagree. As I am not, I see little reason to have off campus lunches. I AM one of those who went to a closed campus school - I honestly don’t see that being forced to eat lunch on campus ruined me in any way - it annoyed me, but again, life is sometimes annoying.
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0 0 It’s all about safety. These kids pile in the cars…too many kids…no seat belts…they haul off at great speed to get their food and be back before the bell tolls. This effects me and other drivers. It also effects my insurance rates…more accidents…more premiums…more cost for uninsured drivers insurance.
Didn’t we have some Bonneville High Students that died last year driving like bats out of h$*# on lunch break?
There is no constitutional right to an open campus. Let all the kids stay together and eat the same food. It’s not gonna kill em!
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0 0 I graduated from Bonneville a few years ago. It seems as though there were always several lunchtime accidents during the school year, and yes, I remember we had at least one fatal accident during my four years there.
But personal freedom, variety of lunch choices, or time to complete chores were never reasons given to me for why we had an open campus. I was always under the impression (can’t remember if anyone told me outright or if it was a conclusion I came to on my own) that the reason for the open campus policy was so that people could attend seminary.
Although the seminary is merely steps away from Bonneville’s main building, it is technically on privately owned land. So, when students walk next door to go to seminary, they are actually leaving campus. Were the school to have a closed campus policy, there would be a great uproar in only allowing students to leave campus to go to religious studies.
Again, this is merely the impression that I got while matriculating at Bonneville, not necessarily cold hard facts. I always found this arrangement somewhat perplexing, and would welcome any more official information anyone else has to offer on the subject.
Vote:
0 0 I agree with Gypsy regarding the “Poor” drivers around here. Anyone that has moved here from another state will tell you, Idaho folks can’t drive worth a crap. I’m not saying all of them, but the majority need some serious driving lessons! Nobody uses their turn signals in this town and most drive 2 miles UNDER the speed limit. What is THAT about?
I’ve heard from a number of people that the actual driving test to get your license is a joke. There was no type of parking test involved, including parallel and/or backing up. And they don’t take you on the interstate during your test. From what I’ve been told, they just make you drive down the street, turn around and come back.
The point is, don’t blame the bad driving habits on just the High Schoolers when it’s a wide spread problem in this town.
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0 0 Why are you repeating “something you heard?” Why don’t you find out? Why not call the IDT and ask what a test involves.
I took my driving test in Idaho after moving from another state and my best friend’s 16-year-old son just took his. Both were the same, both of us traveled on the interstate and both parallel parked.
The point of this thread was not to say all teenagers are the cause of congestion all the time in this area. It was to discuss if campuses should be closed. My opinion was yes and I gave one example to back my opinion. I did not express my opinion and give the sad reasoning of “something I heard.â€
My suggestion to anyone with doubts, stand in the parking lot of Eagle’s Landing Apartments in Ammon when the Hillcrest Lunch bell rings. Then reevaluate your comment.
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0 0 Because it doesn’t really matter to me that much to call and find out. However a number of people close to me said all they had to do was drive down the street turn around and come back and that was the extent of the test. Who knows, maybe they were lying to me for no particular reason at all.
The point is, there are ALOT of adults that can’t drive very well, so don’t blame bad driving habits all the high schoolers.
Don’t presume to think you opinions are any more important or valid than mine. You gave your thoughts on the topic and I gave mine. Get over already.
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0 0 Guest 1033 has a great point about the seminary/open campus thing. That honestly rings a bell with me as well as to why they had the open campus policy.
Vote:
0 0 Ehhh, I don’t see seminary as being an obstacle to a closed campus.
True, the seminary has to legally be off school property, if even abutted next to the official property.
However, the exception can be made for students to leave school property only to go to the seminary property and nowhere else.
Also, students walk to seminary, they do not drive. The closed parking lot still remains effective.
Regarding adults who drive poorly. This is a generalization, and besides the point. Adults are adults and that’s a whole other issue.
We are talking about one issue of helping kids and this particular aspect of their interaction with society. Let’s keep to this issue and discuss the merits of this proposal. If you want to discuss ways to improve adult driving habits, then start another article topic.
Just because some adults are poor drivers also does not distract from the issues related to closed campuses.
Remember, it is not just teen driving issues. The issues are also about student truancy, academics, obesity, and providing activities for students to do during lunch on campus.
Vote:
0 0 One thing that nobody is talking about is the security factor of having an open or closed campus. Seems like it would be easier to control things from a security standpoint with a closed campus, but I might be wrong. It also goes without saying that some adults are bad drivers too. That’s not even the point. Statistics such as those in the link above prove that younger drivers are much worse. Saying so isn’t the same as blaming all bad driving habits on high schoolers. You get over it already. For someone who it doesn’t really matter to, you sure get worked up.
Vote:
0 0 Teens COULD learn to drive poorly by watching their parents (I imagine SOMEBODY has to teach people how to drive so poorly), so poor driving off campus for students @ lunch COULD be an issue in this - but I am intrigued by the seminary idea. Where I come from - there were no seminaries (I’m not complaining) so there were no “extra curricular” reasons to leave school DURING school.
In fact, I’m still not sure how they work it here - is it a “free” class that all students get to do with what they please?
Still, with seminary it seems like “open campus” could mean JUST for seminary - although my guess is the schools would have to find a more secular way to put that. Open campus just for one class a day per student?
One could STILL make lunch a closed campus issue, couldn’t one?
If it’s really the seminary issue - then I wonder how to get around that, letting students who wish to go - go.
Vote:
0 0 Or having seminary at 7am or 4pm like the rest of the country.
Vote:
0 0 Why is seminary during the middle of the day here? Is it just because so many students attend it?
Where I come from I think seminary would have HAD to be before or after school - I never heard of it.
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0 0 You’re correct in your assumption - there are enough Mormon students to have seminary during regular school hours, so therefor, it is during school hours.
I believe Idaho and Utah are the only states which have in-school seminary. If there are other programs, I’ve never heard of them.
Vote:
0 0 Is THAT then why there is open campus @ lunch? Couldn’t one still have open campus for seminary and yet closed campus for lunch?
If that’s not posible, how about seminary on weekends or evenings?
Vote:
0 0 The issue of seminary belonging during school hours or not is a dead end, it’s just what we have here and it is not going to change. I’d like to stay with the campus open/close issue.
I think the campus should only be open for seminary buildings adjacent or within 100 feet of campus.
I think it really comes down to just installing gates at each exit to the student parking lot. IF High school would be the trickiest location in this regard, since they use a couple parking lots and lots of John Adams on-street parking.
Then at one gate you have a … a .. ok the only way to say it is a guard tower. Reinforces that prison argument, huh?
Well just call him the gatekeeper or campus keep. He has the daily printout on a clipboard of students allowed to leave, and the license and car type those students drive.
A two-way radio or phone line be used to communicate between the “campus keeper” and the school’s office.
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0 0 I’m saying the “prison school” idea is pretty uniformly bad, Joe. Nothing personal, but c’mon. This is America. What you’re proposing is utterly fascist.
Okay, that’s dramatic, but it’s still a bad idea.
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0 0 But Joe - what OF schools where the seminary building is farther than a hundred feet away? Surely those must exist. To be honest, before the seminary was built up here in Fremont County a few years ago I don’t think the building was within a hundred feet.
BOTTOM LINE in my opinion. If we want closed campuses for lunch then close them FOR LUNCH - not @ other times of the day. (I assume seminary students don’t take seminary during lunch - if they do - they might need to change the timing).
A gate Nazi isn’t such a terrible idea - except perhaps to tax payers. And an automatic gate - well - those ARE costly and they tend to break down a lot - so there go more of your tax dollars.
Close campus during lunch. Students who happen to be caught leaving or coming back get detention. You won’t catch ALL but you’re going to cut down on the amount of students who leave in the first place, since some won’t want to risk detention (I know I wouldn’t have wanted to risk detention for a hamburger when I was in high school).
This way, lunchtime bombardment on the streets and in the Golden Arches will be less, and students will likely be tardy less often.
I also vote for having fast food places cater in if any are interested, because I agree that school food can be un-tasty food.
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0 0 Yes, this is America, where we have the right to fly through our automobile windshields wearing flaming pajamas while we gnaw the bark off of trees. At least that’s the way it was when I was a kid, and I liked it.
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0 0 Gypsy: “what OF schools where the seminary building is farther than a hundred feet away?”
Jeremy: “What you’re proposing is utterly fascist.”
What about the many American high schools who have implemented this policy and report great results? Are they all fascist also, or is that just a term to bandy at an idea that one doesn’t like?
I do not believe any Idaho Falls High schools have a seminary building farther than across the street from campus. I’m sure it happens somewhere out in Idaho, but that is not the case in Idaho Falls high schools, which is what this proposal is for.
The more this is talked about, the more I realize the best way is just to put gates up in the student parking lot, leave them open until halfway through the class before lunch, then send someone out to close the gates and man the one exit designated for students who can leave.
The person checks each car to ensure it is only the person who has permission to leave. If a student is caught trying to sneak people out of the lot who do not have permission, that first person loses their privilege.
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0 0 Joe -
You’re probably right that in IDaho Falls there is likely not a seminary building too far from the school. I can only off the top of my head recall the seminary building @ IFHS and it IS indded right across the street.
I’m not opposed to the gate system, I just think it’s a waste of money that could be spent on better things like increasing the music / art departments. That’s why I recommend a sort of cvlosed campus with an “honor system” - with a bit of tracking by school staff. It would cut down on the traffic and all that other stuff - it would not keep ALL students from going off campus for lunch, but it would keep many from doing so.
I know this because that is EXACTLY how it was in my high school. There was no gate @ the parking lot - there was just an understanding that if you left for lunch and were caught your buttocks would be in the detention hall for a week.
It worked, and cost very little.
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0 0 Joe, in my view of history, fascism works. Really well. It’s when you allow inherent freedoms that things become really inefficient and messy. But hey, that’s freedom for you.
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0 0 Color me crazy but couldn’t you just stop kids from DRIVING during the school day without a permit. No 100 foot issues to worry about yet still no driving without a permit. Seems easy enough to me.
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0 0 Our highschools are open for one reason only:
They can’t feed all of the students.
Have any of you been in the lunch rooms of the high schools? They can not fit half of the students. Open campus policies are only in place because we don’t give our schools enough funding in order to feed every student. Even if they were to force students to buy lunch room food, there’s no where to put the students while they eat.
This isn’t about freedom or seminary, it’s about the fact that we under-fund our secondary schools.
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0 0 My high school in another state had 1800+ students. We had one lunchroom, and 4 lunches that only overlapped each other by 5 minutes. Our 4th and 5th periods determined where our lunch fell during the day. Our closed-campus policy was heavily enforced, as well as only juniors and seniors could have parking stickers. The rest had to take their chances finding a spot on the town roads.
So, I have little sympathy for those who say it can’t be done in teeny-tiny Idaho Falls. It can be done if the reasons are right and the powers that be know how to do a little manipulation of the schedule. Wouldn’t the money used to pay for school lunches help the school out more than down at McDonald’s?
It doesn’t have anything to do with $$ from the state or anything else. If the school wants to do it, they can.
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0 0 I don’t know how much of a factor the crowded lunch room is or isn’t. If it is a factor, I see inviting vendors to campus as helping that factor.
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0 0 Or having staggered lunch breaks. They don’t need to have a room that holds every student at one time.
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0 0 I am currently a high school junior, soon to be senior. I support limited open campus policies. I see that having perhaps freshman and sophomores going out to lunch could be an issue. Many are still only 14 years old and have NO sense of maturity or responsibility whatsoever. I am still divided over whether juniors should be able to go out to lunch. It’s iffy, in my opinion. But seniors, definitely.
Number one, most of these kids DO have errands to run during lunch. While we get out of school at 2:30, tons of kids are involved in after-school activities that keep them at school until at least 5pm. Personally, I am in theatre and have many nights that I don’t get home until 5, 6, or even 10 at night! There are certain things I need to get done too. I know many other kids who are in marching band with similar situations; plus there are kids (like me) who do BOTH theatre and marching band.
Secondly, the school food here sucks. Sorry to say it, but it’s true. I pack my lunch most days, but on the off chance that I don’t, I dread the lunch period.
Has anyone here seen anything that the school is serving? At least at Wendy’s you can get a decent salad. Our cafeteria serves food loaded with grease. And the “healthy” options are not much better. It costs $2 for a tiny salad that tastes like rubber.
Oh, and staggered lunch periods still don’t work.
We have staggered lunch periods; three of them, to be exact. It still takes between 10 and 15 minutes to get through the lunch line. (We only have thirty-four minutes to get from class, to lunch, and back to class again.)
I have been out to lunch before, once, despite it not being allowed. (We had just come back from a band field trip and had a half an hour to get back to the bus to go play at another middle school.) My boyfriend took me and his friend. We went across the street to Big Boy and had a very nice lunch- not some thrown together fast food that we ate in the car- we actually sat down and were served. There was no reckless driving involved.
Around here we have a plentitude of restaurants that you don’t have to speed to get to. Most of the accidents here happen in the parking lot after school, not at lunchtime.
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0 0 Thanks for your input she_elf. It’s refreshing to hear the thoughts and personal experiences from an intelligent high schooler such as yourself regarding this subject.
Most here have been out of HS for some time and although times change, certain issues like open campus (for at least seniors) shouldnt.
Granted when I was in HS we had an hour for lunch so we had plenty of time to drive somewhere to get a bite or run errands, and still make it back to school in time. My schedule was even better my senior year, because after lunch I didn’t have to go back to school as I took an auto mechanics class for the last 2 1/2 hours of school
at the local Vo-Tech which started right after my lunch hour. Ahhh…the good old days! 
I still think as long as a students (seniors & perhaps some juniors) grades are kept up and they have shown responsibility. then let them have open campus. 34 minutes isn’t much time, but if it can be done safetly, then have at it.
Good post elf.
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I think I’m with Joe 100% on this. While I appreciate the freedom we have in this country we all put up with some rules from time to time. I think it’s an unnecessary waste of time to have students try to race out for lunch, and I agree that it causes tardiness and absences. Not to mention the fuel consumption and traffic congestion it creates.
I know that a lot of students will say that the lunch program doesn’t give them what they want to eat. Then I say, let them vote for the menu. Just have representatives of each food group for each meal. Don’t let them vote for pizza and ice cream every day, but give them some voice in the menu offerings.
I used to work on the north side of town and the rush of students from Bonneville to McDonald’s, Fiesta Ole, and Burger King was incredible. I may be wrong, but it seems like more than one accident at the corner of Iona Road and U.S. 26 happened during school lunch time. And pity the poor person who mis-timed their lunch break and had to wait in line behind all of these students who show up at the same time.
Besides giving students a voice in the menu, I applaud the idea of giving some freedom in return for showing responsibility. It gives them something to work toward, and positive reinforcement is a tool that should be used whenever possible.