Administrators at Oak Park and River Forest High School are considering changes to the off-campus lunch policy after student complaints that the rules are too restrictive and the scanners used to sign students out are unreliable.The rules are that to leave campus for lunch, students must not have more than five tardies,  one unexcused absence or failing grades in a given four-and-a-half week period. Along with these rules, the student must have their parents approve them to leave for lunch. 

OPRF uses a scanner, either showing red or green, to determine if a student meets the requirements to leave for lunch. But according to students, this is not always effective.

Bella Brown, a junior at OPRF, said that the technology system “is not effective at all. Sometimes it shows up wrong when my attendance has been fixed. If I go to my counselor and they say I can leave, the system should be updated to where I can leave.”

 Yvette Thrasher, another junior at OPRF, said, “One time me and a few friends were going out for lunch, and we were supposed to go right away. But they used the scanner, and it caused us to waste 15 to 20 minutes of our time to go out for lunch because our IDs came up red, when we met all of the requirements.”

 Nyah Towne, also a junior, had a different view, saying that, “I think the system is ineffective, but it is getting better and improved, and I think especially as students we are so good with technology I think we should have some understanding.”

On a recent visit to the lunchroom, several students leaving for lunch had their IDs scanned. Those who had red IDs were asked to wait to the side for a bit until the campus safety officer spoke with them.

Marquita Thompson, one of the OPRF Deans, said the school is working to improve the system. “We’ve stationed our dean secretary to assist with that, and we have a hard copy to try to hard match what is being scanned,” she said. “Every Monday we pull a report, and in this report it captures all juniors and seniors absences, tardies, grades…We pull that report and it gives us the list of kids that are eligible to go off campus.” 

She added, “if there is an error, deans can always go in and override it. If there continue to be errors, I would tell the student to go to their dean.” 

The ultimate purpose for the off-campus rule is to help students, Thompson noted. “The goal is to have students prioritize being in school and doing their best while they’re here, so it is tied to attendance, because going off campus is a privilege,” she said. “We think about it as, if you’re failing your classes, you could go to the tutoring center or library, instead of going to 7 Eleven.”          

“I think the rules are kind of excessive, but at the same time I understand why the school has all these rules about lunch,” Towne said. “But I think they should revise them so they’re more accessible for everyone.”

Since these rules have been in place, the deans have been discussing changes, according to Thompson. 

“The deans are looking to change them, because the requirements are a little too restrictive,” she said. “We are trying to have the [off-]campus policy mirror our grade policy, where we tie it to just parent approval and absences.” said Thompson. 

Deans are currently having conversations with their supervisors about lifting these restrictions, she added.