On the day before the school bell rang to let the students of MHS out to enjoy their spring break, an announcement came over the speakers, stating that students will no longer be allowed to stay after school without a teacher or sponsor.

“Over the past school year  we have tried to create an open door policy where kids can stay at school if they want to without a teacher but in a structured setting in the commons,” Principal Dr. Greg Mathison said.

Dr. Mathison said students were wandering the halls and acting inappropriately around the building when they was no supervision.

“We tried to remedy that situation with specific and groups of students and some of that still hadn’t changed,” Dr. Mathison said.

Dr. Mathison said this new policy will still allow students to stay after school but only if they are under the supervision of a club organization or a teacher.

Dr. Mathison said this is an appropriate time to implement this new rule at this time due to the upcoming testing in April and May.

“We have some major things coming up,” Dr. Mathison said. “We have EOC testing and AP testing close to the end of the school year and we have a lot of different activities going in the commons.”

This policy change came around due to safety concerns involving students.

“The primary function of my duty is to create a safe environment for our students at school,” Dr. Mathison said. “Having students unsupervised in the building is a concern and it’s a concern because of their safety.”

However, Dr. Mathison said this policy change is not necessarily permanent. Based on how well this new policy change works for the rest of this year, the administration will make the decision to continue it or remove it.

Aaron Lutrell, hall monitor, said he agrees with the administration’s decision to implement this new policy.

“We want to make sure students stay safe and there’s an issue of accountability here,” Lutrell said. “We need to know where students are in the building for their safety.”

Lutrell said this change still allows students to utilize the school resources like the library and the writing center after school to study or work.

Lutrell said this change has been coming for a while, since January.

“We just want to make sure that the kids are safe,” Lutrell said.

Erika Moehlenkamp, sophomore, said she understands the reasoning behind the policy change but doesn’t think it’s fair for the students who did follow the rules and acted responsibly after school.

“We weren’t the problem and it wasn’t our fault but we got punished for it,” Moehlenkamp said.

Moehlenkamp said it affects her because of her after school activity.

“I have drumline practice after school and it doesn’t start till six so we used to stay after to study and eat dinner before practice,” Moehlenkamp said. “And some of us can’t go home and come back because we don’t have rides.”

Moehlenkamp said this policy change doesn’t account for the kids who have to wait after school for rides home because their parents are working.

“I understand the safety concerns behind this and it was implemented at the right time but it affected people who didn’t do anything wrong before,” Moehlenkamp said.