<p>We had open campus for lunch, but only for second semester juniors and seniors not on academic probation. We did have to drive because nothing was within walking distance, but lunch period was about 45 minutes, so that was plenty of time to get food from someone’s house close by or a fast food joint and get back to school.</p>
<p>Our high school has an open campus only for seniors who meet certain academic conditions. This is a relatively new policy – this is the third year. Many parents were opposed to it, partly because of the danger of accidents. Lunch is only 20 minutes long unless you have a free period before or after it. </p>
<p>The “for seniors” policy is really a joke because everyone except the administration seems to know about the open side door, so other kids frequently leave the school. My daughter would kill me if I told the principal, so I may wait until next year to do it.</p>
<p>Our public fairly rural high school has an open policy for seniors only, with parental permission (sign off) and a sticker on the car. The parking lot where the underclassmen park is monitored and gated off during school hours. </p>
<p>In fact, on the few occasions when I have gone by to drop off something for a child, the parking lot monitor definitely stopped me, asked what I was doing, etc. </p>
<p>There is a popular market/deli across the street from the school and kids are given detention for crossing the street during school hours because it is dangerous. </p>
<p>As far as the driving around the school before and after, I won’t even get going on that topic. We are within walking distance of our HS but I never let either of mine walk because it is just too dangerous IMHO. </p>
<p>Makes you long for the days when teenagers only borrowed their parents station wagon with the wooden panels on the weekend and walked or biked everywhere during the week. Matter of fact, when I was a kid “Dad” took the car to work, kids rode the bus, and Mom walked her Avon route around the block.</p>
<p>My private HS has a closed campus. Our lunch periods are really short, only about 25 minutes, and there’s nothing within walking distance. The downtown area which is about 5 driving minutes away gets really crowded during lunch hours also so 25 minutes would be way too short.
We are allowed to leave early if we have a free period in the afternoon.</p>
<p>When kids have the option to go off campus for lunch, it is impossible for faculty to know who is in the building and who is not, unless there is a very stringent well-monitored sign-out policy in effect. In the event of a fire or even a lock-down for a variety of other reasons, it’s crucial to know who is in and who is out of the building at all times.</p>
<p>my school lunch is generally despicable. 30 minutes (ten of which involves waiting in line) to cram down horrible food.
Open campus is for daydreamers here. I do so see why it wouldn’t work so well. No fast food nearby. Only upperclassman have cars. Attendance would have to be taken again after lunch. Just trying to get out of the invevitable traffic jam thaat would result would take ten minutes, plus ten minutes to the restraunt and back.</p>
<p>S’s overcrowded school does not have open campus for lunch. They have 4 different lunch periods each lasting only 30 minutes each.</p>
<p>My DD’s current High School does not have an open campus. Her previous High School did have an open campus and the Jack in the Box and Taco place down the road cleaned up!<br>
As a parent, I must say that I always worried that with an open campus there would be an accident during lunch as the students only had 50 minutes to eat and get back to class.</p>
<p>Our suburban HS has an open lunch for seniors only. Lunch is only 20 minutes, but most seniors leave because they can. A few years ago, the school tried to drop the open lunch, but so many parents and students raised a fuss, the policy was not changed. </p>
<p>I know that it is best to avoid being in the vicinity of the school during lunch, as kids make a mad dash to get lunch and back in the 20 minutes.</p>
<p>Closed campus, but seniors have one day a month they can leave campus for lunch, if their grades are okay and a parent signs a permission form. Lunch is only 20 minutes, but on senior day they have 75 minutes, which gives them time to eat and get back to school.</p>
<p>it sounds like the situation in my op at the school in question is farily unusual, in that there are no restrictions on who can leave campus or how they leave, and no sign in/out requirements…unlike what most posters are describing. I think they do take attendance at every class period, however, to keep track of tardies and people just leaving and not returning.
calmom- am/pm rush accidents are not under the control of the school; lunch hour accidents are, to the extent that the school does not have to allow students to leave. of course neither is more or less tragic, but one is more avoidable by not having open lunch. so in that sense, the lunch hour accident is somehow even more senseless, as it could have been prevented if the school did not allow the kids to leave for lunch.
I’m just looking for solutions to the problem and feedback from others who have or haven’t had problems with open lunch.</p>
<p>My kids go to an independent high school. They have an “open” campus with a few options within walking distance. However, they have a cafeteria which is only a few years old which has wonderful, plentiful options. I think this has been the biggest factor in keeping the kids on campus. The food is just better at school than it is off campus.</p>
<p>Our high school has a closed campus. Closest fast food is at least 5 minutes away and that’s just one place. The cafeteria has good food though, they just made a brand new one a couple of years ago and put in the food court style and more healthy foods. The tables are round ones that fit 8-10 people so I don’t think it’s that bad.</p>
<p>Our school has an open campus for seniors only. It used to be that underclassmen could order food for delivery from pizza places, sub places, chinese food, etc. but they changed that this semester. Good thing is, I’m a senior.</p>
<p>wecandothis:</p>
<p>Maybe a compromise is to have an open-campus lunch but a closed parking lot at that time so students can walk off campus but they can’t drive. of course this doesn’t prevent one from parking off-campus and the accident occurring but there’s only so much one can reasonably do.</p>
<p>all good ideas–
Jack- Thanks for the link; fascinating article…wonder where this ended up?</p>
<p>wecandothis: Isn’t that bizarre? I never heard any more about it, but I’d be curious to know what happened–and to know if the girl got suspended, too. This is a more detailed account (below); it appears he was suspended for only 10 days. I think it’s his mother who is really pushing for the lawsuit. (Her priorities certainly seem questionable . . . )<br>
<a href=“http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/436659.html[/url]”>http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/436659.html</a></p>
<p>My high school had open lunch for juniors and seniors who had an “IR- increased responsibility” card, needed gpa, et al to qualify- that was eons ago. Here the large, many high school district has open lunch with 3 regular class length periods, around an hour including between class minutes; none of the suburbs do. Nearness to fast food places is not the deciding factor. Senior year my son came home for lunch most days-1 mile, got a ride from a friend usually (funny how guys who run outdoors many miles each day in all weather won’t walk otherwise…), I often gave him a ride back to give him the extra time at home. It was a nice stress reliever for him and he always wanted to fix/cook his own food so my presence wasn’t needed- instead of giving him lunch money I bought a lot more groceries.</p>
<p>our school is very very open lunch. anyone can go off-campus- provided parents signed a form during registration before each school year. However, that doesn’t matter as absolutely no one checks who is leaving. The only way you can get caught is if you come back ridiculously late. In addition, it is almost unacceptable for the juniors and seniors to buy food from the lunchline- almost everyone leaves for lunch every day. Despite the 35 minute lunch periods, we always find enough time to eat. Even if people hurry, no accidents really happen…</p>
<p>wecandothis… I understand the school’s concern about liability, but I think the idea that the accident was “senseless” because the school could have closed the campus during lunch is rather tortured logic. I mean, the school could prevent even more accidents by opening up dorms and requiring all students to board during the week… or by going to the other extreme and offering all courses online so that no students ever have to leave their homes to come to school. Eliminating all sports would certainly avoid even more “senseless” accidents – both those of the players, and those encountered in traffic by students and their families driving to and from the after-school sporting events.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to argue with you – I just don’t see a connection between “open campus” and “traffic accident” other than an unfortunate and very tragic coincidence. (Last week, I went to the funeral of a kid killed on the freeway on a Saturday – it’s horrible when there is an accident, but I don’t think you can blame the time of day or the destination). </p>
<p>For what its worth, my kids’ schools had open campuses and I don’t think any sort of regulation other than expecting the kids to show up on time for their afternoon classes. My son didn’t have a car and usually stayed on campus unless he had others to ride with, because there wasn’t time to walk to the nearest fast food joint and back. My daughter had a longer lunch hour and a car during her junior & senior years, and she was actually required to commute to a different site for her afternoon classes – so lunch had to be combined with transportation. She could elect to stay on the first campus, eat lunch there, and then take a bus; or she could go out to lunch and stop somewhere on the way to the 2nd site.</p>