Open-campus lunch has been a North institution for years, and while it has the potential to be a safety flaw, there have not been any incidents leading to a schoolwide situation that endangered students.

Currently, there is not enough room to accommodate every student during both lunch periods in the cafeteria. While it is possible to add a third or even fourth lunch in order to squeeze everyone in, this would dramatically alter how schedules work.

Another potential option is to build a new addition to the cafeteria, which would allow sufficient room for students during only two lunch periods. However, while this seems like a good idea, it may not be the best option. Building a new addition to the school would be costly.

It would also cost more to have a third or fourth lunch period as cafeteria employees and security guards would need to spend more time running the cafeteria and would be required to be paid more.  

The cost of building the new addition and the increased wages for workers would not be the only costs to see a drastic increase. More food would need to be bought in order to feed all the students. And while North could raise the money over time, is this what we should be spending money on when open campus lunches have not posed a direct threat to students?

Furthermore, small businesses and restaurants near North would suffer from closed campus. A big part of their profits come from students going to their restaurants every day for lunch. Without open campus lunches, many in the area would suffer.

Local merchants wouldn’t be the only ones to suffer. Our school community would, too.

Even though the new policy of closed lunches would not apply to current students who already attend North, incoming students would never get the option to enjoy the same opportunities as everyone else.

This would not only create an invisible divide between older and younger students, it would also create tensions and jealousy between the two. Incoming students look forward to open-campus lunch and can’t wait to experience the freedom themselves.

By taking this privilege away from them, it would not only be a crushing disappointment, but with all the other grades being allowed to leave campus, it would create a definite division among the classes.

With closed-campus lunches, North would also lose an important and fun tradition: Tuesdays Mean Pizza.

Because our cafeteria food is contracted with Sodexo, North is limited in its ability to sell any other brands of food. This means that closed campus would effectively end the TMP tradition.

Furthermore, having open campus lunch doesn’t make any more tardies than having late start Mondays. It is first hour, not fourth or fifth, that has the most tardies.

While having closed campus is an option that could make North safer, it would also affect both the school community and surrounding businesses. The other new policies such as message alerts would be able to eliminate most threats that come with having an open lunch. This would make having closed campus a costly precaution that may not be necessary for student safety.