Locker distribution at San Marin has been a longstanding problem that does not seem to be solved. This year, with a large freshman class and an increasing number of broken lockers, these issues are more prominent than before.
Attendance Technician Jeanie Olian shared statistics on the number of lockers compared to students.
“There’s still about 83 [students] that don’t have lockers,” Olian said. “We have over 100 lockers that have been broken for a while and have not been fixed yet.”
The students that did not receive a locker this year were mostly freshmen. Many of their classes call for certain supplies, and students may have to carry them in their backpack if they do not have a locker. Freshman Gia Ongaro did not receive a locker this year.
“My backpack was really heavy, and it was kind of hard,” Ongaro said. “Whenever I pulled something out, everything would fall out.”
Other students, like freshman Gage B. Rizzo, who also does not have a locker, are not bothered by having to carry materials but have found the lack of a locker to be inconvenient in other ways.
“I’d rather bring my own lunch to school, but I don’t want to carry around a lunch bag, so I have to eat in the cafeteria, which can run out of food,” Rizzo said. “Today, I couldn’t eat any food because they ran out of pizza. The guy in front of me got a plate of olives.”
Some students without a locker or with a broken locker have found ways around the issue. Those who have cars store their belongings there and some without lockers shared a locker with another person.
“I was able to find someone who was able to share [a locker] with me, but it’s also hard because the lockers aren’t big enough for two people to fit all their stuff,” Ongaro said.
