photo credit: Sophie Rogers
Let’s face it, the high school has been changing rapidly. From the addition of hall monitors spectating in the hallways to the recent change in school resource officers, the school is going through a myriad of developments for better or for worse.
Last school year, vandalism was rampant. This affected everyone in the building, from janitors working overtime cleaning up after the vandals to students having to avoid trash and inappropriate messages when using the bathrooms, the school needed a change.
“We are not looking to make changes just to change, we are looking to make changes to respond to needs. They’ve helped make the hallways and bathrooms a lot clearer and made the school a lot safer,” Principal Monica Asher said.
Hall monitors are a recent change to the school. While it is obvious that a hall monitor should be a disciplinary presence in general, becoming a role model for students is a step further which will be necessary to ensure the ending of vandalism within the bathrooms.
“I took this job to be a disciplinary presence and to be a role model for students. A big part of my job is keeping students moving along and not congregating and making sure kids get to where they need to be,” hall monitor Carol Eleby said.
Vandalism is not only a problem at the school, as according to Statistica, during the 2021-2022 school year, approximately 35 percent of schools in the United States have reported a case of vandalism. It usually occurs in unsupervised areas, which is the reason hall monitors are helping with this issue.
“The number one thing that keeps me awake at night is school safety, and hall monitors have increased it. They made a significant difference: better attendance, clear hallways, and safer bathrooms,” said Asher.
While the stereotypical hall monitor serves as a strict extra set of eyes in the hallways, at the school, hall monitors truly care about getting to know the students. While we now know that Carol Eleby is interested in student’s lives, it’s important to understand why she became a hall monitor.
“I’m retired and I wanted to have something that keeps me semi busy but not too busy and I wanted to work with kids or elderly folks because I was in financial services for three decades so I wanted to switch it up in my retirement.” Said Carol Eleby
In addition to the new hall monitors at school, an increase in student resource officers have also been visiting and patrolling the hallways, usually found in the lunchroom. They have been switching quite frequently with new faces appearing almost daily.
“If something that happens criminally I have to go there too.” Said Officer Doug Simila
With the addition of hall monitors in combination with the school resource officers safety at the school is clearly being prioritized. Officer Doug also wanted to work with the youth as he was growing up which makes this a perfect job for him.
“School resource officers do not work for the school and they may shift people around based on their needs,” Asher said.
Currently, in the high school, the school resource officers have been switching around after our old SRO was moved around. However, almost no one in the administration is aware of what is happening from that angle as that information is primarily held by the sheriff’s department. They will usually do as per the needs of the sheriff’s department and are not necessarily a sign of a “punishment.”
“The long term effects of the addition hall monitors is a better learning environment.” said Asher Overall, these new changes have proved to be extremely successful, according to Asher, there has been a 21 percent reduction in teacher referrals, which are essentially discipline referrals, and a 30 percent reduction in suspendable offenses.
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