At the commencement of the 2022-2023 school year, SRHS seniors were left perplexed. Two weeks into the school year, underclassmen were receiving their locker information, while seniors were confused at the very evident empty box on their schedule. Through their high school career, minus the year in quarantine, the class of ‘23 have always received lockers. Learning that they were the only class that didn’t receive lockers this year frustrated many.  

Senior Stephanie Garcia said, “It’s not fair and to be honest I find it dumb that lowerclassmen get priority on the lockers.” Stephanie is taking seven classes and carries a heavy backpack all day.  “It sucks because when the heat gets really bad, the heavy backpack just adds to the exhaustion.” 

This shortage of lockers is due to the construction that was going on the past year. This shortage also affected the senior class last year, so it’s been an ongoing problem. Construction and remodeling have left seniors with this extra weight to carry on their shoulders. Seniors are hoping that with the renovations complete, they can hopefully receive a locker. 

Students have needed to adapt to the loss of their lockers. Many have alternated between putting their things in their cars, asking a teacher to store their belongings in a classroom, or just simply sharing a locker with someone else. Though, there are some issues that spark up when using these alternatives. Many students at SRHS aren’t “privileged” enough to own a car, so that option is out of the question for many. There are others like senior, Andrea De Leon, who says “it can become inconvenient to store it in a classroom, especially if the teacher leaves and I need to get my things.” At times sharing a locker with someone else can just be uncomfortable, so people prefer not to do it. 

Yet, there is still the question about how many lockers are being used. Eyvin Mazariegos, a sophomore at SRHS, is just one of many other students that don’t use their lockers. “It’s not that I don’t want to use it, it’s just that I’ve never been taught how to use it, I also don’t carry a lot of things, so I find no use for it.” 

In the near future, there is hope in finding a solution to the problem of unused lockers. Assistant Principal Casey Shannon hopes to have “some sort of survey for students to help us find out who will need the lockers.” 

So, why is it important for students to have lockers? Well, according to The National Library of Medicine on the effects a heavy backpack can have on students, the weight of a backpack can truly affect a students physical growing body. The weight of a backpack affects a person’s posture, their breathing rate, the amount of pressure that is put on someone’s foot, and just discomfort in general. 

“We value and respect our seniors greatly, but it was a necessity due to the fact that we currently have more students than lockers,” said Mr. Shannon. Although Mr. Shannon hasn’t been here for the longest time, he notes that he and the staff are doing all they can to get seniors their lockers. 

Luckily, the senior class will be receiving lockers very soon. It’s still unknown at what time frame these new lockers will be installed. There was a delay to these lockers because of the supply chain issue that was going on this year. Admin is crossing their fingers for these lockers to be installed late fall of the ‘22 school year. “Seniors will have full priority over these brand new lockers in the new STEM building,” said Mr. Shannon.