Principal: Survey shows most parents favor closed campus

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Oct. 29, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

Bemidji High School Principal Ev Arnold said according to an informal survey of parents concerning the open- or closed-campus issue conducted this fall, most parents support a closed campus.

Of the 540 people answering the question concerning an open or closed campus, 349 -- or 64.6 percent -- said they would like a closed campus, and 152 -- or 28.1 percent -- said they would like an open campus. Thirty-nine respondents said they didn't know.

Arnold said that on an open comments section of the survey, most parents asking for a closed campus based their answers on safety concerns.

"Overwhelmingly, the families told us they want it closed," Arnold said.

In addition to the survey, Arnold and Bemidji School District Superintendent Rollie Morud said the district has received at least a dozen letters favoring a closed campus.

The open- or closed-campus debate concerns whether students should be allowed to leave the campus of the new Bemidji High School, located on Fifth Street Northwest, west of the U.S. Highway 2 overpass.

At the current high school, the 1,700-plus students are allowed to leave campus for their lunch period mainly because the school logistically cannot feed all of the students. With an open campus, some of the students eat off campus, alleviating the problem.

At the new high school, however, there is adequate room to feed all the students. So it will not be necessary for any students to leave.

The Bemidji School Board members said at Thursday's public hearing, that if chosen, a closed-campus policy would still need to be drafted.

A second public hearing will be hosted 7 p.m. Nov. 22 in the current Bemidji High School Green Room.