Unlocked locker rooms alleviate inconvenience
Updated policy addresses athletes’ concerns
Junior Evie Gutzke and freshman Coco Gutzke put their sports gear in regular school lockers the morning of Sept. 18. As of Sept. 23, the new policy allows students to put their equipment in the locker rooms before school.
September 29, 2019
The new locker room policy put in place during the first few weeks of school prevented student athletes from using their athletic lockers before school, which proved inconvenient for their already busy schedules.
The administration recently updated the policy to allow student athletes to have time in the locker rooms from 8:05 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 8:25 a.m. to 8:35 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. I agree with the school’s new policy change because now the directors are aware of student needs for the use of the locker rooms.
In the previous years, students were allowed to go inside the locker rooms in the morning to drop off their belongings and then head to class. In an effort to reduce the amount of inappropriate behavior in the locker rooms, the school adopted the policy to close the locker rooms during the day. Although some students were mistreating the locker rooms, the majority of students were not misusing the locker rooms, so they shouldn’t be penalized for other student’s reckless behavior.
As of Sept. 23, the policy has been updated to allow for the locker rooms to be open 10 minutes before school starts. I think this is an excellent change because now athletes will have time to store their belongings in the designated area. The policy change really helps students because before it was a hard adjustment.
When winter rolls around, Nordic ski teams will especially find it difficult to carry their gear and skis. Athletes need the locker rooms to be open before school so they don’t have to go through the hassle of finding a time and place to change before practice or games.
This new policy is meant to help students, but the administration should be more aware of the problems athletes face. Many of the athletes were frustrated because they had to use their school lockers to put their belongings inside. I understand the frustration and was glad when the administration updated the policy.
Locker rooms serve as a safe space to store belongings without worrying about them getting lost of stolen. Athletic gear is expensive and valuable and should be protected during the day rather than the athletes having to be responsible for it when their focus should be on education.
