600 Hall gate now locked during school hours

Since April 30, the 600 Hall gate near the Senior Lot has been closed starting at 8:20 a.m. every day.  It is only re-opened for upperclassman lunch, and closed immediately after school. CVHS officials came to the decision to close the gate during these times due to various police agencies’ suggestions to do so after they came in during the lockdown drill that took place on Thursday, April 19.

“They identified the entrance as a huge security and liability risk by having it wide open during the day,” said Assistant Principal Matt Steinecke.

Due to the fact that the gate is technically considered a back entrance into campus and that so many people enter the school through it, there is no real way to make sure that all visitors to the school can be monitored if they enter through the back door. Many students walk through campus expecting it to be a safe and secure place, rid of possibilities for danger, but many never really notice the amount of people that come on campus without needing to be there.

“Through that doorway, a lot of non-students come into campus, for good and bad reasons. Some are even invited onto campus by other CVHS students,” said Steinecke.

It really is impossible to keep track of who is on campus at all times during the day and, as much of an inconvenience as it might be to some people to walk or drive to the other side of campus to get in, CVHS is making sure that all of its “borders” are secure. But what happens to the students who take a class in the Center for the Arts (CFA) who use that door regularly in their daily schedule to get to and from class? According to CVHS officials, they have no need to worry.

“During passing periods we will have campus patrollers standing by the gate to let students in and out. Anyone who wishes to enter the school through that gate after those times will have to go around to the main entrance,” said Steinecke.

Not many students besides those going up to the CFA ever really use that gate during the school day; therefore, it doesn’t seem like the change will affect a lot of people in a major way.  It might, however, pose a problem for some who already struggle making it to class on time.

“I won’t notice much because I don’t usually use that gate anyways, but it might make some students late to class,” said senior Luis Rodriguez.

There is no way to predict what effect the change will have immediately on campus life but many can agree that it is a necessary step to ensure our safety. Just like any new rule, however, there will be students who wish to break and violate it, and plans have already been set in place to punish those who wish to do so.

“We’ve gone as far as to propose assigning some sort of consequence for students who knowingly invite or allow non-students onto campus,” said Steinecke. Students can expect to receive something along the lines of a Saturday school for their first offenses but if the problem continues they can also expect to receive a suspension for putting the safety of other students at risk.

Closing the gate might not be the biggest change to student life on campus, but at least there has been some more security added to the school that will allow students to feel safer and bit more relaxed than usual.