Hallway Monitoring Rule Being Enforced At Newtown High

By Andrew Rote

I had just finished my lunch in the cafeteria of Newtown High School, and I decided to walk to the library to do some homework. I arrived there, but only after explaining to a teacher and a security guard where I was going. Two years ago, this rarely ever happened to students. Since then, there are more students and more noise at the school.

“We want to keep hall traffic quiet,” said Jules Triber, assistant principal. “We did not want [students] to wander.”

Students are no longer able to walk through the halls because it causes a distraction to the ongoing classes, according to Mr Triber. Places that students may go without a hall pass during periods include the cafeteria, the library, guidance, the main office, the reading/math center, and the senior courtyard.

This is not a new policy for the school, Mr Triber said. Students were never supposed to wander through the halls. Recently, the rule has just been enforced because of the increase of staff.

To carry out these rules, teachers are given the daily duty of sitting at each stairwell leading to the cafeteria. Another teacher is assigned the duty of walking the halls, monitoring the main floor. A fourth teacher walks the halls upstairs.

On the side of the building with fewer classrooms, students are permitted to go to the library or the foyer. On the side with more classrooms, students are sent back down to the cafeteria. Finally, if this does not solve the problem, security guards are also around the school.

One teacher does not think sitting being a monitor is the best use of time.

“Is it a waste of time just sitting here? Yes,” said a teacher that monitors a stairway. “I would rather be doing something like helping a student.”

Some students are finding the enforcement of the rule restrictive, reflecting a lack of trust, and they say it prevents them from getting help from teachers.

“They were even stopping me going to the library,” said Dave Millar, a junior. “They don’t want people disrupting classes, but walking down the hall is not disrupting.” He added that he can no longer go to teachers for extra help because he cannot go upstairs.

“They used to trust us, but they don’t anymore,” said junior Paul Zimmerman. He talked about one specific thought that came to mind. “I had to go to guidance to schedule an appointment and a teacher didn’t let me. I have to make up stories.”

Annette Chionilos, a teacher who is assigned to stairwell duty, explained that Mr Triber told her where the students may and may not go. According to her, there have been few problems enforcing the rule.

Cathy Durchak has been a school security guard since April. When she arrived, the system was already here. She said that there have been problems along the way, but they have been reduced. According to her, the main reason that students cannot walk the halls is because of the noise and disturbance it causes.

Mr Triber explained that monitoring the halls is not the only thing that is being done to prevent classroom distraction. He said that it is a whole series of things, including trying to refrain from calling classrooms in the middle of periods.

“Teachers immediately noticed the change,” he added.

Mr Triber said that there might be changes in the future because nothing is ever perfect, but for right now he is happy with the way the system is working.

Some students and teachers may be frustrated by the implementation of these new security procedures. The bottom the line is, classes are running more smoothly and the hallways are less congested due to these measures.

(Andrew Rote, a Newtown High School junior, is sports editor of the NHS school newspaper, The Hawkeye.)