Staff focus on freshmen leaving campus

Freshmen at San Marin High School state that freshman cannot go off campus during lunch, even though the upperclassmen can. In previous years at San Marin High School, freshman were not usually stopped and sent back by staff when they tried to leave for lunch, but this year there are many more freshman being sent back.

“I think this rule is pointless and should be the same for everyone,” freshman Elizabeth Hart said.

“If sophomores can go off, then freshman should have the freedom too,” freshman Sophia Valdespino agreed.

Many students at San Marin agree that everyone, including freshmen, should be allowed off campus at lunch, but this year when a freshmen tries to go off they are often sent back.

“I tried to go off once but got caught. After that I went another three times and nothing happened,” said Hart.

This year, students have reported seeing yard supervisors waiting behind trees to stop the freshmen from leaving campus. Others have seen a supervisor at the end of the parking lot turning the freshmen back toward campus.

The enforcement of this rule has been more lenient in past years, Vice Principal Mike Casper said.

“We didn’t have enough staff to ensure that the freshmen stayed on campus, but now that we have more staff it is easier for us to keep the freshman on campus,” Casper said.

Though some students disagree with the off campus rule for freshmen, the staff agree it is in place to keep everyone safe and out of trouble.

“From my experience at other schools, the reason for this rule is to keep people safe. If a freshman were to get in a car with a junior or senior and they get in a crash, there is no way of us knowing,” Principal Mark Sims said.

Not everyone likes the lunch food provided by the school, and freshmen argue they should be allowed off campus for lunch because there are more food options.

“I don’t like the food here, and up at Harvest there are more options like sushi, Chinese food and Subway,” freshman Matt Duncan said.

Sometimes the cafeteria runs out of lunches before everyone buying can get one.

“Some of my classes last year were far away from the cafeteria, so if I didn’t get out to lunch early, all that would be left was fruit and a bag of chips,” said sophomore Emillie Rasmussen.

For the older students this is not such a big problem because they have the option of going off campus during lunch. The freshmen who get to the cafeteria late often only have a bag of chips for lunch.

“We should have the freedom to go off campus at lunch, or at least in groups.” freshman Ethan Fonarev.

“I would prefer to change the rule to only seniors and people with a 3.0 grade average can leave at lunch, but I would have to confirm this with the board and the parents of the students that go to this school. I am also interested in doing fun things at lunch involving all classes and hopefully that will make students want to stay on campus,” Sims said.