While continuing to enforce many of the same policies from last year, Wakefield has introduced new updates for the 2015-2016 school year in order establish a healthy and successful learning environment with the security of staff and students in mind. Faculty from across the board have worked very hard this summer to try and come up with a set of policies that will be successful for the new year.

Administrators, representatives from the county, and various committees of teachers all collaborated over the summer in order to institute this year’s set of rules–dress code being one of the most prevalent topics.

“You don’t want to dress in way that detracts from the educational environment,” said science teacher David Guy. “The main thing we think about when coming up with these policies is how we can enforce them while being fair and consistent. We want to have a school where everyone can learn and do well.”

Last year, faculty made it very clear that wearing track shorts and leggings without a top six inches above the knee was not acceptable. However, this year, the rules have changed. The guideline for this year’s dress code policy is strictly based off the outfits that could create any form of distraction. If it does not disrupt the learning environment, then there will most likely be no problem for students and teachers. These rules have been set in place to avoid conflict and allow as much time for learning as possible.

“If it’s not disrupting the educational environment there’s not going to be push back from faculty,” said Assistant Principal Eric Betheil. “If shorts are too short, if things are too tight, if shirts are inappropriate–those are the things we’re going to address.”

Focusing on learning rather than battling dress code is not only valued by teachers; but by students as well. Many students at Wakefield believe that the dress code changes make better use of school time and avoid unreasonable class time diversion.

“It’s a lot easier for students now and it’s more reasonable; it makes better use of our time,” said Caroline Stallings, Executive President. “Everyone will be happier and won’t be focusing on what they’re wearing.”

Although the dress code change has been viewed as a positive new aspect of the school year, many students find it unfair that outside food cannot be brought back on campus this year. It’s easy to bring back food from a neighborhood restaurant for a quick bite if  a student has to stay on campus during A or B lunch for tutorials or meetings. Many find that it’s convenient to bring lunch back to school for their lunchtime commitments, but this year, it’s not allowed. Students have started to notice the unfavorable effects of this rule during the provided lunchtime.

“I wish we didn’t have the ‘no food’ policy,” said Stallings. “It’s difficult to get stuff done especially when you have meetings during lunch. A lot of people are involved so it’s harder for them to eat while they have meetings.”

Although many students, and even some teachers, believe that the food policy is new, Guy proves this idea to be false.

“The food policy actually didn’t change,” said Guy. “It’s just now being enforced. It’s always been a rule, we just weren’t enforcing it like we should have.”

Even if some students were unaware that the food policy was set in place last year, it is a well-known regulation for the 2015-2106 school year at Wakefield.

What students would like to know is what activities are allowed during spirit events. Since there is not a viewable set of rules regarding what is allowed at games, rallies, and other school events, many find it difficult to understand what is expected at these events.

“I wish we were a little more lenient in what we can do at spirit activities,” said Samantha Begin, Executive Vice President. “They’re pretty strict on football games, but that’s understandable because they’re just trying to look out for students. I know there are many times when we’ve seen other schools do things to get people excited, and we’ve had to steer away from that.”

After learning about the new policy updates, we are still left with the question as to why these changes were made. According to faculty, the reasoning behind this year’s changes are simply to ensure order here at Wakefield.

Even though there are many different opinions about our school policies, they are set in place to maintain a safe and stable school setting while continuing the focus on education.

“With all the things we’re putting in place, we’re focusing on two things,” said Betheil. “We’re hoping to create an environment that is 1) safe, and 2) educationally sound.”