Why a closed campus at high school lunch is safest

SALT LAKE CITY -- An Internet search using the key words “open campus” or “closed campus” and a quick perusal of the results will give you an idea of enormity and passion that surround this debate.

School boards, school administrations and communities across the United States wrestle with this politically charged and emotional subject, and make no mistake high school students have strong opinions as well.

Closing school campuses at elementary and middle/Jr. high schools is nearly a universal safety precaution. High schools, however, are a different matter. Locally, leaving campus and going to lunch when you get to high school is something of a cherished rite of passage.

Open campus policies at high schools engender a number of issues for school administration and local communities.

Nearly all high schools have short lunch periods, generally between 30 and 40 minutes. The time pressure to get lunch and get back to class creates a near road race mentality, and that is part of the problem.

In Amarillo, Texas, the Palo Duro High School closed campus for the lunch period.

“The decision came after area residents complained students were clogging the streets during lunch, creating a hazardous situation for drivers and students,” reports Jennifer Wilson in the Amarillo Globe News.

Tardiness and truancy is another area of concern. The Yakima Herald Editorial Board weighed in on this debate in its community with the following: “There is no substantive research to prove that a closed campus equates to a better attendance rate, there is enough anecdotal evidence to indicate that it (a closed campus policy) does help keep students where they should be: in the classroom.”

Fast food restaurants adjacent to high schools have come to rely on the business volume provided by the high school students. In some cases fast food locations are chosen for this factor. With childhood obesity a growing national concern, this from a study cited by National Association of School Psychologists in NSPA Online “Open-campus policies. Students in schools that have open-campus policies and also are close to fast food restaurants are more likely to be obese than kids who go to schools that are far away from such restaurants.”

It is not just fast food restaurants, in some cases the business has been a school intuition for years, The Peekskill-Cortland Patch reports on such an establishment: “They are lined up like birds waiting on a fence,” Liz Vivenzio said.

"Vivenzio and her husband Andre own D&M Deli, a PHS student lunch spot on the corner of Elm and Wells Street, directly across the street from the school border. They have been feeding high school students for 28 years."

The most compelling reason to close high school campuses during lunch is the same reason that elementary and middle/Jr. high schools campuses are closed — student safety.

There several safety advantages to be gained, chief among them visitor control.

Even students see the logic. Phil Zielinski writing for the Mlive website is a senior at Gull Lake High School in Michigan.

“Open-campus lunch makes it nearly impossible to screen people coming onto campus during the school day, which jeopardizes students' safety, making a closed campus the safer option. But, the issue of security aside, it's also the more logical option.”

The Marfa Independent School District in Marfa, Texas, with safety as the primary consideration, enacted a district-wide closed campus lunch policy that was implemented on the first day of the 2010-2011 school year.

Such policies are not draconian and provide for necessary student ingress and egress for valid proposes. The following sample is from the Greshem-Barlow School District policy manual"

"Closed Campus Policy

The safety and security of students and staff is a primary concern. To assist in providing such conditions, the Board directs all schools to operate closed campuses. Closed campus regulations should be developed at each school to ensure a safe environment for students and restrict the entrance and egress of visitors.

Such regulations must minimally include the following.

Students are to remain on campus throughout the school day with the following exceptions:

1. A parent has provided permission to leave school for a specific need which meets established criteria;

2. A student has a school-approved work release privilege; and

3. A high school student who meets established criteria may leave the grounds for lunch.

Visitors are required by Board policy to check in at the school office and secure permission to be on campus. Visitors must wear an identification badge which allows staff and students to know the office has approved the visitor’s presence on campus. Visitors are required to check-out at the school office upon departure.

Other appropriate security measures are encouraged by the Board to assist in the enforcement of a closed campus policy to provide security and safety to all students and staff.”

A closed campus is safer for students. The likelihood of a fatal automobile accident in a high school cafeteria is minimal. The ability for school administrations to control who is allowed on campus is greatly enhanced.

All that aside, the closed or open campus issue will be a matter of periodic debate at every high school and in every community in Utah.

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