All those present at school during Mod 1 likely heard the announcement from Columbus East principal Mark Newell on Thursday. In short, the entrance at the north end of the building, commonly known as the Band Doors, will be locked all day.

According to Newell, the action is not meant to present an inconvenience to students, but a safety precaution to keep unwanted intruders from coming into the school, such as the man who entered the building and caused a disturbance on November 10.

“When we looked at that north end, we realized that we really don’t have a lot of supervision down there as opposed to the main entrance, so we just saw that as an opportunity to limit the student traffic down there because that’s how the individual was able to get in, when a student was exiting those doors,” Newell said.

Though the locking of the north doors is a valuable step toward keeping students safe, there are negative consequences that arise. This presents complications for performing arts students who park in the north parking lot and those who get dropped off there in the morning.

The already crowded and chaotic student parking lot will have even more vehicles contending over wanted parking spots, and students in marching band will have to lug their heavy instruments from the student lot to the band room.

“A lot of people in band park [in the north lot], hang out in the band room and come play their instruments when they come back from going off campus for lunch, so that will certainly be affected,” said sophomore band member Courtney Schnur.

Many students who are dropped off by their parents in the morning were also concerned about back-ups that the loss of an entrance would cause, but Newell assures that it will not be an issue.

“Traffic flows really well [in the lot near the tennis courts] because there is such a long line to come around, and we said that it could handle extra,” he said.

The north entrance will now have a keycard lock for faculty, and students will enter through the office, pool, cafeteria, and A and T doors. The north doors will still be available for afternoon pick-up.