The everlasting question of why students cannot leave school during their free periods has yet again risen at Pentucket.

Unfortunately, Pentucket has never been an open campus, at least not as long as Mr. Seymour, Pentucket High School Principal, can remember. He claimed that it isn’t really anything he’s remembered being on top of his priority list to be an advocate for. Fortunately, this year we have students pushing for this privilege in a way that has the staff listening.

It is obvious that leaving during school could raise quite a few concerns, but surprisingly this did not come up during my short chat with Mr. Seymour. He briefly explained that it makes sense to have an open campus in an urban setting, but to be able to leave Pentucket may not make as much sense. “If you have to go all the way to Merrimac because you forgot something, you won’t even have time to come back really”, said Seymour.

What Mr. Seymour forgets about teenagers are the two main reasons they would leave school: to get something they forgot or to get food. This could benefit Groveland and West Newbury kids for going home, as well as Merrimac kids as soon as the bridge reopens. Students have strong opinions on this topic as well. Tory Ruggeiro, senior, claimed that it would be difficult to keep track of everyone. “People don’t have time to check that stuff before you hit the sign out paper, grab your keys and get out”, she says.

However, Tory felt that this would be a positive change for the school. She had the same concerns anyone would have, like people skipping classes and people inevitably complaining about the rules. “Once you leave, it’s hard to come back; you get people who skip and lie.” She claimed. She believes that if the school does become an open campus, it should be a privilege to be able to leave.

Tiffany Croft, senior, also had strong opinions on the issue. “If you have below a C, then you shouldn’t get the privilege”, she said, also saying, “if you’re late for class, suspend it. There has to be consequences.”

It was surprising how students were so quick to come up with rules for this that they were readily going to swear not to break. Many students agreed that an open campus would be beneficial and that it is something they would like to see change this year.

While the outcome of this situation is still unclear, there are people working to see this happen. Meanwhile, we will just have to wait and see what unfolds.