Upperclassmen have always held the sole rights to travel off campus during the school day, but this year Central High School’s sophomores were granted the privilege as well.

By Aspen Newman

Starting this fall, sophomores are now allowed open campus at Central High School, enabling 10-12th graders to leave the school grounds for lunch or open blocks.

The change opens up a lot of space in the lunch room, relieving the pressure on the lunch line, which last year could be so long some students had only ten minutes to eat.

“Well it makes more space in the lunch room,” states a current senior here at Central High school, Katie Paris, “but do I really want them on the road? In the parking lot? No.”

Paris’s comments echo the concern of many seniors, parents, and teachers, as sophomores are usually new drivers. Yet this is not a worry to the sophomores because a lot of them appreciate and enjoy it a lot.

“I like it, I get to go get food that’s not school food,” says a current sophomore Kiersten Silvernail. “Or I can sit in my car and avoid other people.”

Many teachers and seniors appreciate that sophomores have open campus as well. There won’t be as much traffic after school at 3:20. And even though not all the sophomores use it, many appreciate knowing they can leave when they don’t have class.