At 9:14 on the morning of August 16th, I leave room II-109 with my press pass and school-issued student ID inside my backpack, neither visible to any admin or teachers monitoring the spaces outside of classrooms. At 9:37, I walk back into class after wandering the halls of the entire school, not only seeing both admin and teachers but also walking directly past the school’s principal Andre Bala coming up the staircase by the first floor’s 100 hall’s open space, never once having been asked for my ID or a pass to be in the hallways.
Smoky Hill recently put into effect an intense crackdown on the district-issued ID policy which mandates that “EVERY student is required to wear their ID card from 7:30 am-4:00 pm, while on school grounds,” according to the district website. All other schools in the district have implemented this policy on their own campuses with Smoky Hill holding up the tail end of enforcing these ID requirements.
As the brand new freshman class arrives, the beginning of their high school career is marked by the unique and brand new. From new classes, peers and study methods to rules and regulations, the class of 2027 may be facing a learning curve when it comes to adjusting to the requirements placed upon them by the school, especially regarding their IDs.
“[The ID policy’s] like too much,” Naomi Aguilar (9) said, “It’s like too much, you know? It’s so strict, like you have to have your ID on, it’s like, a little much.”
Transitioning from middle to high school, many freshmen are seeing such intended intensity when it comes to enforcing ID procedures for the first time.
“We had IDs [in middle school] but they never made us, like, show them really,” Rebecca Siders (9) said.
But, despite the long-standing of these guidelines at other Cherry Creek schools, many more senior students at Smoky are dealing with new challenges in effect, with upcoming 2024 graduates facing both their last year at this school and their first having to follow these novel rules.
“I think now, it’s almost sad that they don’t necessarily trust us enough to not have our ID on us and to be more responsible,” Zainab Khan (12) said.
Many seniors even feel that the possibly confining nature of the ID policy not only feels like a mass punishment but is inhibiting their ability to act and be treated like adults.
“I feel like we’re old enough or, like, mature enough to be like, respected,” Asiya Naseer (12) said, “And even if there’s like a small amount of people who aren’t doing that I don’t think we should be blamed for that. The entire school shouldn’t be like, having to wear IDs all the time.”
With the at times, less than favorable student body opinions on the procedures, and the possibly questionable enforcement of them in the halls and throughout the entire school on only its first week back in session, the question arises: is this new policy working to help or hurt the students of Smoky as a whole?
