At the start of the second semester, St. Charles East High School started the introduction of ID checks. Assistant principal of Student Life Nicole Osborne established the checks in the Orange & Black on Jan. 12, 2026, “Welcome back, students! You may have noticed the ID Scanners at the doors recently. You’re going to need to continue to have those IDs ready at doors as we check in. We are scanning you in and we want you to be on time. On time means across the threshold! So don’t be late.”
This was sent out two weeks into the second semester and there has been no new updates giving a more in-depth reasoning for the policy or progress that is being made on the matter since then. Which to be quite frank I’m upset about, as a student I like progression and success in my school. If I’m given policies, I’d like to know what they will do for students’ success in all areas.
Policies over the past year have become stricter and lack reason. Personally, I would rather not walk in 30-degree weather to go to a specific entrance, causing me to be increasingly late and inconvenienced. In my personal experience, I have had to walk around campus, braving the cold weather to go through door 40. This occurred the first semester before there were inconsistent ID checks. Now, the norm is to go through the front entrance or door 40 when a student is late to have the possible chance of scanning in.
The new rules are inconsistent. As someone who’s been late a handful of times, I’m rather familiar going through door 40. Some of those days, administrators made me scan my ID, other days they’d send me to the attendance office and on occasion they would let me walk right into the building. So why are students walking across campus to have a possible chance of scanning in, or to possibly check in at the front office when it can be done just as efficiently by entering other doors? It is inconvenient and unnecessary as it is not routinely like an established policy should be.
As a student at St. Charles East, I believe that the new policies lack reason, as students weren’t given detailed news on the matter in Osborne’s newsletter. Along with a lack of consistency to honoring the policy. If rules are being placed, they should be informed to students in a timely manner, stay consistent and be productive in order to have progression in student learning and safety.
