Photos taken by Charlie Colasurdo '18
For the past 12 years, girls have had a smooth ride in terms of the physical education locker room conditions whereas boys have had to purchase locks for their lockers in order to secure their belongings. Boys are required to purchase a $5 lock and have the ability to return it at the end of their junior year for a $3 refund. Girls do not have to purchase a lock at all.
“It’s part of policy within our department that students have to purchase a lock or have a lock available to them so they can lock up their valuables to avoid theft,” Department Head, David Gusitsch said.
In 2005, the new building of Staples High School was opened and the girls’ locker room was renovated along with the building. The girls’ locker room received locks that were embedded in the locker. However, the boys’ locker room remained the same.
“I never used the locks but I did use the gym lockers for some time. The locks seemed pointless because of the low probability of our stuff getting stolen,” Alex Cheema '18.
“Basically, what I told my students was that you were required to buy a lock, but if you didn’t buy a lock, then you were going to take your chances downstairs by leaving your clothes in those lockers,” gym instructor, Marce Petroccio said. “Probably half of them got changed in the bathroom without me knowing.”
Alex Cheema ’18 believes that boys should not have to purchase locks for their lockers. “I never used the locks but I did use the gym lockers for some time. The locks seemed pointless because of the low probability of our stuff getting stolen,” Cheema said.
Gusitsch stated that the money collected from the locks gets deposited into a student activities account through the office at Staples. “[The account] it’s not part of our budget or anything other than a safe holding place outside of our department that if the money needs to be returned it’s there and available for us,” Gusitsch stated. “They are sold at whatever the cost is that we get them. Whatever the purchase price is for the padlocks is, is what we sell them for.”
Gusitsch also said that if the locks are left in the locker room over the summer, the physical education department collects and re-codes them for incoming freshmen the following year. Boys also have the option to keep their locks instead of returning them for the refund.
“Buying the lock was pointless because I knew I’d never use it and I didn’t use it,” Zack Cooper ’18 said.
Ethan Vosper ’19 has never purchased a lock for his belongings. “I don’t think it was pointless to get one because there were no locks on the lockers this year,” Vosper said.
Margo Cerrone ’18 has used the girls’ locker room since she was a freshman. “I’m happy with it because I never used my locker,” Cerrone said. “But I think it’s unfair that the boys have to pay and the girls don’t.”
The boys’ gym locker room is already under renovation and is expected to be completed by the start of the 2017-2018 school year and will have locks embedded in the lockers.
