As of August 2024, a new state policy was implemented in Florida at all schools, including SCHS. Now, every building must be locked at all times during the school day.This led to students facing new struggles and staff applying new procedures.

      Many students are unaware of the procedure that is in place when they get locked out of a building, which consists of waiting for a staff member to open the door that they need. The lack of awareness of the procedure is causing some confusion and frustration for a great deal of students. In an interview with Mr. Harkema, coach and dean at SCHS, he shares “We have Mr. Workman who goes around. His job is to walk around campus and unlock the building if somebody needs it.” In addition, Ms. Torres, SCHS’s dean secretary, adds “I have to radio one of our deans or admins to go and open the door.” The school staff is working hard on trying to keep this procedure as smooth as possible and so far.

      Although staff is doing a wonderful job taking care of this procedure, new changes lead to new feelings, especially with a law that changes a lot of our “normality.” “It's awkward to wait outside and more with the heat and humidity.” says a student at SCHS, Jolianna Cartagena, an 11th grader. Not only are the students struggling with this, but at the same time the staff are going through a lot. According to Ms. Torres, “It’s a bit stressful, because we cannot get students in and out as quickly as we used to.”

      However, not everything is negative. Despite all the obstacles in the way, SHCS staff has found a solution that keeps everything in a new normality. Administrators also think that is a necessary policy. “I think that everybody should be on time for their class.” our dean Mr. Harkema states. Ms. Torres adds: “It's necessary to be secure, make sure we are safe, specially all the gates that are facing off campus.”

      The new state policy has been a challenging change to SCHS, for both students and administrators, but at the end of the day, it is the new reality, and everyone is more than prepared to face this new challenge.