by Daniel Hatfield ’13

Sherwood students have never been allowed to leave school grounds during lunch, even though the benefits of an open lunch policy outweigh the drawbacks. First off, if an open lunch policy were put in place, the privilege should only be given to upperclassmen (with parental consent for students under 18). Since most underclassmen are unable to drive, it wouldn’t make much sense to let them go out anyway, and acquiring the privilege to leave school during lunch could be seen as a reward for upperclassmen. Allowing students this privilege would also reduce the amount of trash found in the halls, since they would dispose of their trash wherever they choose to eat. The policy would stimulate the local economy as students would spend their money at local restaurants.

Letting students leave for lunch would create a new level of trust between Sherwood administration and its students; the administration allows students  to leave, but they have to come back. It makes sense to be a little skeptical about allowing students such a privilege based on this reason, as well as the fact that underclassmen could sneak away with upperclassmen friends. The former could be tested with a trial period of the policy, and the latter would be handled as individual cases of such instances to be dealt with by administration. Students could be allowed to leave for the last quarter of the current school year, and the administration could decide how well the policy worked based on the correlation between the new policy and increased upperclassmen absences after lunch.

According to Marla Caplon, the director of the MCPS Division of Food and Nutrition Services, “About half of the high schools [in MCPS] have open lunch and it’s a decision that is made at the school level,” (as reported by the Bethesda Patch newsletter). As someone who eats Sherwood cafeteria food daily, alternative options to the type of food served at school would be preferable. Cafeteria food may uphold a series of nutritional requirements, but frankly, it does not taste good. Having options would be nice, and since the open lunch policy is mostly determined by individual schools, it would make sense for Sherwood administration to allow open lunch.