PRINCIPALS EYE LOCKER EXPERIMENT

Students at Poplar Bluff Junior High School are banned from using lockers in an experiment aimed at reducing vandalism and violence at the school.

Junior high principals at Jackson and Cape Girardeau are eyeing the Poplar Bluff test to see if it works.

Poplar Bluff Junior High Principal Tom Schlimpert told school board members this summer that eliminating lockers will save money on locker maintenance, will reduce tardiness and will decrease fighting around lockers. The move also will reduce graffiti and vandalism and opportunities to stash weapons or contraband, Schlimpert said.

As part of the Poplar Bluff decision, students have a set of textbooks to keep at home. A duplicate set of textbooks are kept in classrooms for use at school.

Poplar Bluff officials consulted with two California junior high schools who experienced success with locker bans. Both reported reduction in fights, thefts and tardiness.

Dennis Parham, principal at Jackson's R.O. Hawkins Junior High, said Jackson already limits the number of times a student can visit their lockers to three a day.

Students may go to their lockers before school, at lunch and after school. The limit, Parham said, is based on hall traffic at the school. "We're just overcrowded," he said. "This eliminates traffic."

But the policy forces students to be responsible, he said, because they must plan their day better. "Students have a tendency to stand there and talk, and that makes the hall more crowded and congested."

"I think what Poplar Bluff has done is really a neat idea, if it works," Parham said.

Students could still carry contraband items in duffel bags or backpacks, but the likelihood is reduced.

"Now, students can always say they didn't know something was in their locker or that someone else put it in their locker," Parham said.

Having a duplicate set of textbooks at home also eliminates an excuse that the book was forgotten at home or at school.

But Gerald Richards, principal at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School, sees some disadvantages.

"You have the dilemma of coats," Richards said. "And students who participate in various sports would have to carry all their belongings."

At Central Junior High, students may visit lockers between each class. Richards said that practice promotes responsibility also. Students know how much time they have between classes and must plan their activities accordingly.

Once a quarter, students empty and clean out their lockers. "I think lockers are treated much like bedrooms at home," he said.

Both Richards and Parham said the schools haven't experience a lot of problems with lockers, but will be interested to see how Poplar Bluff fares.