On Jan. 28 Bonita Vista High (BVH) seniors received an unexpected email regarding the necessary off-campus stickers they would need to have on their student IDs. The email explained seniors would receive the stickers in their Government or Economics classes starting Feb. 1 and ending on Feb. 7. Students who did not have a Government or Economy class had to pick up their stickers at the front office.

The stickers are put on a vacant space on students’ IDs and are color coordinated based on what period students are allowed to leave. The sticker color system works as follows according to campus assistant Mayra Valenzuela:

• Blue: students do not have a sixth period and can leave after fifth period 
• Green: students do not have a fifth period and can leave campus after fourth period 
• Orange: students do not have a fourth period and can leave campus after third period 

Select few have a sticker with a colored number on it, such as a yellow, indicating that they have an unscheduled fourth period but must stay on campus because they have class after that period. Valenzuela describes another sticker provided to students with specialized classes.

“We also have the BV shield that means they’re interns for Mr. Laffey’s class and get to leave at sixth period to do their internship,” Valenzuela said. 

Beginning the first week of February, BVH staff members check student ID cards when they are leaving campus prior to the end of sixth period. This new policy was put in place to ensure underclassmen students did not skip their classes.

“By incorporating stickers on student IDs for the seniors, we’re making sure that our ninth through eleventh graders are accountable for not leaving sixth period,” Assistant Principal Jason Josafat, Ed. D., explained. “We would have students that are not supposed to leave, leave and it was hard for us to keep track. Students [were] leaving either through the front gate, the main office or the side gate.”

Josafat is not alone in recognizing the amount of students leaving school when they are not supposed to, prior to the off-campus sticker policy. Senior Lizbeth Diaz finds that non-senior students are using this year’s zero to six schedule, which permits seniors to leave after period 5, to their advantage.

“Right after school, they open the [gate by the] ASB and I always see people that I know are not senior[s] walking out,” Diaz observed. “Just anyone can leave, no one really checks.”

Tardiness and truancy is a rising problem this semester and is not isolated to students leaving during sixth period. A school wide email sent out by Assistant Principal Esther Wise on Feb. 2 noted, “Our school has noticed an increase in tardies this semester,” and encouraged the community to remind students of why it is important to attend class on time.

Other than attendance, student safety is another concern. Students are safer when BVH administration knows the student is where they should be. Josafat worries for students’ safety, especially for those who are not permitted to leave campus before the end of school, but do it anyway.

“If we have an emergency and a parent calls their son or daughter and their student is not here, we have more accountability with the stickers than not having them,” Josafat said.

Though the initial email sent out to students was unexpected, this new policy has been in the works for quite some time. BVHs assistant principals had the idea of this new policy since last semester. However, the challenges that came with the return from distance learning caused the off-campus sticker policy to be put on the back burner.

“We would have loved to do this [hand out off campus stickers] at the beginning of first semester and right at the beginning of this semester, but we’re doing it as close as we can,” Josafat said. “It will be implemented for the rest of the semester and we’re going to see how it goes.” 

In the spirit of trying new policies, senior Julieta Chavez is a bit skeptical about how effective these stickers will be. Chavez and Diaz both ride the bus home from school so they are in a unique situation where they must be on campus at the end of sixth period regardless of if they have a free period or not. 

“I think it will be better than it was before but there [are] still going to be kids getting out [without authorization],” Chavez said.

Josafat looks at the situation with a more positive mindset and has found the first week of sticker distribution “a success”. He hopes that, despite the different possibilities of students trying to leave without the proper sticker or trying to replace and replicate the markers, students will “adhere to the honor system.” 

“I’m a firm believer that if we don’t try anything, we won’t know how it works,” Josafat said. “This is something new and we’re hoping that it’ll make a good change for our school.”