Summit’s attendance office recently implemented a new rule that will require students to check in when re-entering school during the lunch period. For verification, people must scan their student ID or enter their name into one of the iPads at the window. This new policy, put in place by Assistant Principal and Security Coordinator Reno Holler, aims to increase student safety. 

“We had a visitation by some officer, and one of the things that they noticed [is that] during lunch you unlock the doors, you got a thousand kids that leave – pretty much anyone can come in at lunchtime. That is a safety concern,” explained Holler. 

The doors will be open (and no check-in will be required) for six minutes at the beginning of lunch and six minutes before class resumes. Unlike other schools, including Bend Senior High, Summit is not closed throughout the entire school day. As a result, campus monitors and other staff members watch the entrance while the doors are open. 

But students are skeptical of whether or not this is enough. 

“Throughout the day, before school, after school, they’re not doing that. So I don’t think it’s making too much of a difference,” said Maggie Lichtenberg, a Summit sophomore. Additionally, this new policy has the possibility to create backups. Lichtenberg had to wait in line for five minutes, almost until the first bell, to re-enter school.