The student store currently operates before school, during first period, fourth period and eighth period. On Feb. 3 student council adviser Jessica Hogan felt it necessary to change the procedures for the store and informed teachers of the changes in an email.
Some students had been abusing access to the school store, displaying difficult and disrespectful behavior toward workers and Hogan.
Starting Feb 4, the store began opening five minutes after class begins and does not stay open between classes. Students must have a pass to visit the store.
Some student store workers reported customers going behind the counter and trying to take items from the store, while others were disrespectful to the staff working within the store.
“Everyone was on edge,” senior Vivian Krouse said. “They’re a little offensive when it comes to people, and, if you’re by yourself, you have to deal with that alone.”
Once Hogan noticed these issues were occurring, she took immediate action to make policy changes.
“It really made me upset,” Hogan said. “I couldn’t believe that students would be so disrespectful. We are very fortunate to have the store as our fundraiser for the student council, and it’s a privilege to have this, not an entitlement. It’s not something you should take advantage of. We’re lucky that the administration allows us to run it.”
After the changes were implemented, community service workers of the school store said they felt much more comfortable working there, but there is still an air of nervousness within the staff.
“It has helped my fellow classmates and other people that I work with, along with student council members to feel a little more safe, ” senior Louren Callens said.
“I feel that the school store changes are rather unfair. I know I don’t have a pass since I didn’t get one this year,” junior Christopher Lafferty said. “I also refuse to get another one due to me waiting for two weeks to get a new one anyways. Since then, I think the closing and opening is unpleasant to most. I have a class in the A building top floor and can’t go until after finishing assignments. The opening I believe is fair to let the shopkeepers prepare.”
In the end, Hogan believes it was a valuable lesson for the student body.
“I believe they learned valuable lessons about how to deal with the public,” Hogan said. “This is, unfortunately, how our society is going. People are rude to service workers and maybe people should think twice about whether to be rude or not.”
