Closed campus at Yosemite High

Students—except seniors—restricted at lunch period

for first time in history of school

by Earlene Ward

Yosemite High School

For the first time in its 25-year history, Yosemite High School has a closed campus. This means that all students except seniors remain on the campus through the lunch period. In past years, all students were allowed to leave the campus for lunch because there was not a cafeteria that could feed everyone. That changed with the passage of a bond in 1998. A new multi-purpose room / cafeteria was constructed and opened to the students August 20.

Cafeteria Manager Irene Keener said they completed over 600 transactions per day the first week at the cafeteria. By Friday afternoon, she was feeling good about how it was all working. “Monday was terrible,” she said, “but we got it together Tuesday, slipped a little Wednesday, then it went very well Thursday and Friday.” By week’s end they were getting all of the students through the various lines so they could get to their sixth period class on time.

YHS Principal Steve Raupp is “very pleased” with how well the closed campus is working. “The students are being extremely responsible,” he said. He commends the cafeteria and custodial staffs for the “great job” they are doing to accommodate the large numbers of students. He also is pleased with how well the students are picking up their own trash. “We anticipated a problem with litter, but that hasn’t happened,” he said.

Seniors are given “senior privilege cards” that allow them to leave campus for lunch. School officials stress that this is a privilege for the seniors and if they abuse that privilege it will be revoked. As part of the closed campus, fencing has been installed around almost the entire perimeter of the 95-acres. This allows the school staff to monitor the students as they leave. It also means students have to enter the campus at the front. In the past, students sometimes parked at the backside of the campus and walked on to their classes; this is no longer possible because of the fencing. The perimeter fencing also keeps people from walking onto the campus. This is a safety measure, making it necessary for those people who have business on campus to enter at the front as well. Anyone entering the YHS campus is required to report to the front office to obtain a visitor’s pass. “We realize that restricting access to the campus will be an inconvenience for some people,” Mr. Raupp notes, “but in order for us to improve school security and close the campus these changes were necessary.

“Ultimately the safety of students is our highest priority,” he concludes.