“At this time, all students must be with a teacher or coach.”

Without missing a beat, NC’s intercoms routinely remind students of the rigid protocol implemented 15 minutes after dismissal. Despite administration’s intention of keeping wandering students out of the halls, teachers and after school program (ASP) attendees feel uneasy with the implementation of this new policy.

“We have a growing amount of kids roaming the halls with no clear objective, and this makes it hard for students to attend extra curriculars in a professional setting,” NC Assistant Principal Stephen Revard said.

More than 66 clubs and 19 sports congregate under the NC roof throughout the year, but with open doors and empty halls comes loitering kids refusing to leave the building, causing a hassle for custodians and posing a security issue.

As of this semester, administrators patrol the building during classes and after school, filtering out unsupervised students from the halls, regardless of their intentions. These efforts make the students feel inconvenienced, leaving them unclear as to what this accomplishes.

“At our last HoPe meeting, many members had to leave early, but with this new rule, they were forced to wait until an adult was able to accompany them. The teacher had to walk all of the students to the door, it made me feel uncomfortable,” senior and HoPe club president Zianya Cortes said.

Since students wandering the halls versus those commuting from one club to another look no different, administrators request an adult’s presence with all ASP attendees. Administration will escort any student that have no adult justifying their whereabouts outside or back to the club sponsor’s class; club sponsors, coaches, and teachers have no choice but to accompany their high schoolers to the nearest exit.

“It just seems so unwelcoming. I think you can tell when people are up to no good versus when students are going somewhere—students are getting stopped with keys in their hands [by administration] on the way to their cars,” AP English Language and American Literature teacher Cathie Lawson said.

Despite the inconveniences, Revard emphasizes the purpose in the new protocol—for the safety of the students and teachers, administration must address those who do not belong in the building after 3:30pm.

“We knew that we had to shut [roaming students] down because student safety is our top priority,” Revard said.