BHS students will no longer be able to go out for lunch in the 2018-19 school year.

At a May 17 open forum after school, Principal Tony Srithai and police officer C.J. Piro, Beachwood Schools’ Director of Security, made it clear that they intend to close campus.

Currently, open campus is a privilege that upperclassmen may take advantage of during their lunch or free periods and sophomores may use during only their lunches.

Freshmen and sophomores with unscheduled slots in their days are given a mandatory study hall.

Parents must sign off on a student’s open campus privileges and the administration and parents also reserve the right to take this away “at any time for good cause or convenience including but not limited to a student’s behavior, attendance and/or academics,” according to the student handbook.

At the May 17 open forum, Srithai announced that free periods will only be given during first and last periods of the day, limiting students to coming to school late or leaving early.

In an interview, Piro conceded that the first and last free periods are a decent idea, though he stayed consistent in his full support of a completely closed campus.

“It has to do with safety… knowing who’s here and who’s gone, and being able to keep track of that,” he said.

Piro is concerned that it’s much harder to know who is really in the building with an open campus.

In the case of an emergency, Officer Piro and the administration are worried about not knowing where a student has gone.

Many students are against the decision.

Junior Madison McShepard says she supports open campus because it “give [her] a break” in her day and extra time to do homework, sleep, or grab food from home.

Other students have echoed that sentiment. During the open forum, students also asked if it’s possible to have a system of checking in and out of school, such as school IDs, which must be used to get in and out of the building.

This compromise would allow students open campus and an easier way to keep track of who is in the building for administrators, though none gave a clear answer to whether or not this is truly a possible solution.