By Dana Williams
The open-lunch privilege — which allows seniors to leave campus in a car or on foot — now requires the students to obtain written parental permission, and will soon call for seniors to meet academic, behavioral and community service eligibility requirements before they are allowed to leave the campus for lunch. The school board is waiting for district Superintendent John Hogan to adopt regulations to administer the new policy, school officials said.
“The meeting we had last month was very important because the board was able to hear comments from those who agree with our students leaving for lunch and those who don’t,” explained Davis Whelpley, a school board trustee. “The board took the thoughts of parents and residents into consideration with this new policy, and now our superintendent will further specify the eligibility requirements.”
The school’s open-lunch privilege has recently been criticized by community members and local politicians, after two WHHS seniors were killed and one was critically injured in a car accident on Nassau Boulevard in West Hempstead on April 10. The three students had left the school’s campus to get lunch. Under the new policy, school officials have not determined whether seniors will be allowed to leave the campus in their cars. Since the accident, the open-campus policy has been suspended and students have been eating lunch in the school cafeteria.
After the accident, state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) renewed his call for a bill that would forbid school districts statewide from allowing students to leave campuses in their cars during school hours. Gianaris, who called open-lunch policies dangerous and risky, introduced the bill in January, after three teens were killed in a similar accident in Smithtown. He recently announced that the bill is making its way through the state Senate.
The open-campus policy has been the subject of ongoing debate in West Hempstead, with some supporters saying that it teaches seniors to be responsible and prepares them for the freedoms they will experience every day as college students. Opponents of the policy say it opens the door to trouble because students linger in public places when they should be in school. And given the limited amount of time allotted for lunch, they say, it can make students late for their next classes.
School officials are planning to announce the details of eligibility requirements for the privilege at a school board meeting next month. “The regulations for this policy are in the process of being written, and then they will be considered by the school board,” said Richard Cunningham, the district’s assistant superintendent for business and operations, who spoke for Hogan in his absence. “This is a sensitive issue, and the administration is presently working out the regulations for this new policy.”
Comments about this story? DWilliams@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 205.
