With the recent surge in population in Chester High School, classes have swelled beyond their regular numbers. Classes are so immensely overcrowded that kids have had to drop classes valuable to their futures. Classes of twenty-one turned into classes of thirty-one, and the comfortable lunches have been stuffed with over 90 students. The two separate lunch periods are overflowing; we have to migrate outside and to the gym for a seat. When the weather changes, the seats in the front lawn will be taken out of the equation. Kids are sometimes still getting their food when ten minutes remain in the period. Other than switching up classes to create a new time slot for a third lunch, the administration should consider an open campus lunch period.

Open campus lunches would not only help the overpopulation of the lunch room, it would solve our budget issues around the school. Illinois is broke, which means our school is not in the best shape. We are spending thousands of dollars on food that is not even being eaten at all times. To insure the food that is prepared will be eaten, polls should be taken at the beginning of the day. If a child knows he/she will be leaving for lunch, why would the cooks prepare food for that child that will go to waste? It not only makes them work harder, but it also throws away hundreds of dollars worth of food. We were always told not to waste our food, and our school system is doing that exact thing because it is not informed. 

         Even though an open campus lunch would mean our monetary intake drops, it would help the local businesses that always struggle to keep their doors open. Many restaurants in Chester struggle because it seems to be a black hole. Every restaurant that comes here sees our population sign, not realizing a maximum security prison is tacked onto it. The teenage crowd are our restaurant’s most frequent customers. None of us want to cook for ourselves; we want convenience and good food. Being able to leave our school would give us the choice that would stop the constant complaining. Picky teenagers want the type of food they like; being able to pick where and what they eat is their best option. This option would give restaurants around town a surge of much needed business. Our small businesses need to make ends meet and open campus lunch could mean that in some cases. 

         A lot of teachers encourage this plan because many schools in the area have something similar to this. A lot of schools have rules and stipulations that go along with it, but they have never had problems causing it to be withdrawn. A way of keeping trouble at a minimum would be to only allow students on the Honor Roll a chance to leave, and students falling short simply must stay. This would give every student an incentive to keep grades high and to stay in good character. This would also solve the problem of kids not coming back to school after their open period. Honor Roll level children don’t want absences or unexcused absences on their records. The Honor Roll is a high-ranking achievement in high school that should have more rewards than an ad in the newspaper. 

       This argument is not only a more efficient way to feed children, it has more pros than cons. Administration is so afraid of lawsuits that an actual solution to our problem has been overlooked or swept under the rug. We are supposedly in the supervision of teachers and administration from the time we arrive until the final bell or a parent signs us out. If a parent signed a form at the beginning of the year, all lawsuit-worthy material would be unjust and not able to be used in a case. With a parent’s permission, the school has no legal fault for any fender-bender or accident during that time slot. When brought to this level, the solution to avoiding a lawsuit is quite simple and could have worked years ago. The only reason it was not thought of was fear. The administration’s fear is cruel and unfair. It takes away not only our freedom, but our ability to have a say in our education experience.

         Our school is by no means perfect, but this plan could most definitely push our school forward in today’s society. This actively illustrates that our old school, close-minded way of doing things needs to change in order for things to start running more efficiently. At this point in time, our lunches are so crowded one is practically sitting on their neighbor’s lap. Hopefully in a few years, teenagers will be eating Chinese food with their friends, laughing and joking about how kids in classes before them could not leave the school during lunch.