What’s the Deal with Bonneville’s Doors?

Lukas Hellberg
Staff Writer
  Bonneville’s doors have a controversial past with the school. With all of the added rules for the doors designed to protect the people at this school from various threats, some students have spoken out about the inconvenience that this protection brings.
  At the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, all of the doors were locked except for the front door at the start of the day. Although few other restrictions were placed on the doors, many students still complained about the inconvenience of the doors. People have shown a preference to the old door policy, where they only locked the doors in the morning, compared to the new one. “I definitely think it was necessary for safety, but even then, it was easier to get [to] classes,” stated Jazmin Torres, about the new door policy compared to the old one. However, Torres still believes it has improved the safety of the school. “Overall, it was good for [the] safety of everyone.”
  According to a form sent out recently, many people believe that the door policy has become much more cumbersome under these new conditions. Some people have complained about how difficult it is for certain students to reach their next class on time. Erin Carter, a paraprofessional (a trained aide) at Bonneville, discussed this difficulty at length: “It seems that those going to the seminary building are late there and late to their next class… and only [have] four minute long passing periods. That definitely doesn’t leave time for using the restroom and getting a drink.” Yet, Carter still agrees that the new policy is much more safe than the old one. “... I understand why doors being locked is a safety issue, with students not ditching and strangers not randomly coming [into] the building.” Many people agree that the door policy tends to be inconvenient; however, they can still admit that it is much safer.
  The administration, on the other hand, finds the protection provided by the doors to be incredibly important for the sake of keeping the students of this school safe. Principal Levi Owen noted the planning that went on to implement this policy. According to Owen, “The new policy is a necessary step for us to ensure the safety and security of the school building. It was made after careful consideration and much collaboration with different staff members--including seminary teachers.” Other members of administration, including attendance secretary Amanda Van Orden, discussed the careful planning that was needed for this plan to be upheld. Van Orden expressed,“I don't think students and parents really know how much effort, time and thought goes into these decisions made by our administration. I wish they could see things from that different perspective.” This shows how the administration feels about their efforts being seen as a burden rather than a help.
  While the students have shown disdain for the inconvenience that the new policy brings, the policy has kept the school much safer than the school was before. Not only is the school safer, the policy helps prevent students from leaving the school grounds by locking the doors.