bay county -
High School upperclassmen say it's a chance to get away from school and enjoy lunch with their friends, but having the opportunity to go off campus for lunch may soon go away.
Florida lawmakers are discussing two identical bills that would ban students from going off campus for lunch. One bill is in the house (HB 1467) and one is in the senate (SB 1726).
During the week at around 11:00 a.m., three friends, Jonathan, Cypress and Teddy meet at the Panama City Mall's Food Court for lunch. The group, like many other high school upperclassmen, has permission to leave campus during their lunch period.
"For people who can get it, it's actually a privilege so they can get off campus and relax a little bit and get away form all the nonsense at school," said Bay High School senior Jonathan Morgan.
But that privilege could be taken away as state legislators are discussing bills, proposed by two Miami lawmakers that would ban all off campus lunches.
"Me personally, I wouldn't want them to take it away from the other kids," said Bay High senior Cypress Turner.
"I think it's not right because seniors and juniors have worked hard and earned the privilege to go off campus," added his classmate Teddy Finley.
In Bay County, it's up to the high schools to give that privilege to students. Deane Bozeman and Arnold High Schools don't let their students leave, but Mosley, Rutherford and Bay High schools do. Bay High's Assistant Principal Kris Palfrey says each student must have a 2.0 GPA, good attendance, no discipline record and they must pass both parts of the FCAT.
"In order to give those students who go the extra mile as far as attendance grades and other academic tests that they take, we wanted to be able to reward them," Palfrey said.
Palfrey herself doesn't support the ban because she says it's a good incentive for students, but that doesn't mean she doesn't worry every time a student goes to lunch.
"Our goal is to make sure that the students are safe and we can only do that if they are on campus. So when the students leave for lunch and get in the car, your heart skips a beat and you hope that they will return safely," she added.
The two bills are currently being discussed in House and Senate committees.
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