On Nov. 19, students and parents received an email announcing that starting Dec. 2 there will be a new policy at Wheeling High School requiring all students to leave the building by 3:30 pm. Any students waiting for their ride home are expected to wait by the back and front doors while the foyer is closed. One cause for the new policy is that despite being the adult supervision from before school until late in the afternoon, the school lacks staff for the constant supervision needed to deter poor student behavior.

     “The reality is, we now have supervision from 6:30 in the morning, until 7:30 at night. The reality also is that we don’t have the staff to supervise the entire building,” Tom Scotese, dean, said. Other justification to close the foyer pertains to unfortunate and disrespectful behaviors and even racist language used by students. Alex Perez, security guard, commented on how disappointed he is with how students loudly use inappropriate language in the foyer: 

     "As a Latino, I don’t like the ‘n-word’. But, the kids here use it like a punchline,” Perez said.

In addition to the loitering and language, students have already defaced and damaged the new furniture in the foyer by drawing graffiti on it, jumping from the new furniture, leaving trash on the ground and tables, punching holes in the murals, purposefully clogging toilets, and ripping soap dispensers off of the walls in the bathrooms.

     Students have shared mixed reactions to this new policy. Brianna Eloiza, sophomore, recognizes the logic behind the policy: “I’ve heard complaints that are along the lines of ‘If these people don’t want to be at school in the first place, why do they choose to stay after school?’ At our last few rehearsals for the musical, we had a couple disruptions by some kids messing around by the theater doors. So I think that rules like this prevent those disruptions from happening,” Eloiza said.

Elizabeth Olmos, junior, said “If they care about us, they should let us stay. What’s the point of getting new furniture?”

     “It just came down to being a disturbance. They don’t have anything to do. I don’t have a problem with kids staying here, because sometimes you don’t know what’s going on at home. We don’t know what’s going on in the streets. I’d rather the kids stay here, but do some work. Be proactive,” Perez said.

In the past, the Lit Lab had been available to students after school, but then later that was closed by administration as the tutoring lab wasn’t being exercised enough after school.

“Now that there isn’t really a need for students to be in the building, other than their after school activities, the expectation is that students need to get to their clubs or sports with someone who can supervise them,” Jacqueline Meo, dean, said.