Administrators and student opinions on this newly enforced rule
At the start of the 2023-24 school year, an administrative decision was made to restrict access to the student parking lot, enforcing a new rule that students must have an off-campus sticker on their VHS identification card to access the parking lot. This has been met with simultaneous approval and push-back from the VHS community.
Bella Long ‘24 said, “My initial reaction [was] that I [understood the requirements] but the way things have been handled like the following: yelling and taking pictures at/of students just makes kids want to rebel more so I just feel as if they [administration] are contributing to their own problem.”
Elizabeth Botello-Lopez, VHS administrator said, “We are working with students to ensure they are fulfilling the requirements. If students fail to comply, we are implementing steps to address the behavior.” These steps have included posting staff and administrators at the entrance to the lot checking the off-campus sticker on all IDs.
Lopez continued by depicting her and all of the administrators’ thought process behind initiating this rule. She said, “This rule has always been in place although there were no specifications on the student parking lot. To ensure the safety of our students after reviewing data of campus incidents/information and while being strategic with our campus supervision, administration felt the student parking lot was a privilege due to less supervision. We then proceeded with making it part of the off-campus eligibility area. The student parking lot is closed during the school day and nutrition and accessible to students with an off-campus pass. Students can remain in the lot or leave off-campus.”
Long said, “I get keeping students safe but students feel restricted and vengeful. I haven’t been denied but I have had friends who left their IDs in their cars and had to go back to get them which made them late, making it all feel like a waste of time.”
As the school year progresses, Lopez said, “Students are getting better. They are understanding this rule is being strictly and consistently enforced.” However, she said, “Off-campus passes are the site’s discretion and can be revoked at any time if needed. Students also need to continue to follow the criteria quarterly to keep their off-campus passes current.” This is in reference to the disruption at previous grade level assemblies, where students continued to clap against the protests of VHS administration so off-campus passes were threatened to be revoked.
Long said, “I think that they need to just be less aggressive when applying rules so students don’t feel powerless and instead safe.”
