By NEIL ZOLOT
WAKEFIELD – School Committee members had a positive reaction to a plan for limited open campus for High School seniors, presented by juniors Michael Barry and Anthony LaVita at their meeting Monday, Jan. 13.
“I like the idea,” chairman Stephen Ingalls said of a plan to allow seniors to be off campus if they have an Academic Support Class (ASC), which is basically a Study Hall, at the beginning or end of their school day.
“I’m definitely in favor of this,” member Peter Davis added.
Nevertheless, the matter was tabled until the next meeting Feb. 11 to let the idea sink in with the community. “I want a reflection period,” Ingalls said. “It’s important we hear from all voices.”
In the meantime, High School principal Amy McLeod, who appeared with the students, will send out permission slips to parents and determine how many students might be eligible based on their schedule and if it can be expanded to allow students to leave in the middle of the day and come back.
Regardless, students will need to maintain at least a C grade average and be in good standing in their behavior to qualify.
Barry and LaVita pursued the idea as part of a Student Services Project “to make a positive change in our community as students,” in Barry’s words.
They conducted a poll of juniors and seniors, from which they received 57 responses. 55 percent of the respondents were seniors, 44.2 percent juniors. 81.1 percent were in favor of the idea, 13.2 percent weren’t sure and 5.7 percent were against it. The poll was conducted anonymously, but Barry and LaVita said the students against the idea totals only 3.
The survey also included a section on pros and cons as perceived by students. Cons included the difficulty of students getting back to school for after-school activities, students without cars not being able to take advantage of the privilege and the policy tacitly approving tardiness.
Ingalls also brought up the issue of equity of some students being able to use open campus and others not due transportation issues in later discussion.
Pros included not wasting time in a meaningless class, reducing traffic because students would be arriving at staggered times and allowing some students more time to sleep in the morning, an idea that has come up in discussions about whether to start all High School classes later in the morning.
Barry and LaVita felt that aspects of the program like parental permission slips, entry and exit through a single door to keep track of who’s coming and going and not having students waste time in ASCs mitigate the cons.
Their research also revealed that Reading, Winchester and Woburn, among other area High Schools, have some form of open campus.
It was common in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, especially during the years when baby boom era student populations were too large to meet the capacity codes of buildings.
“Open campus is something I look back on fondly, but there’s a different environment now,” Davis said. “It’s more difficult to do it because schools are locked down.”
In discussion, School Committee member Kevin Piskadlo asked McLeod if the practice would affect student time-on-learning requirements.
He also asked what an ASC actually is and if it’s similar to a Study Hall from his student days.
She answered an ASC is “a souped up Study Hall, but more focused,” in which students can visit other teachers.
As such, she feels it is still time-on-learning that offers “free learning time” and wouldn’t put the High School out of compliance on learning time.
She also praised Barry and LaVita for advocating for the issue even though they will not benefit this year.