The Media Center is no longer open to students after school, and will now only be available before classes.

Before this year, the Media Center would stay open after school and be available to students every day but Wednesday, and students could come to study, check out books and use the computers. Now students will have to go elsewhere if they want to study after school.

The closing of the Media Center comes in the wake of a new after school program. Steven Stefanick, the 11th and 12th grade Assistant Principal, explained that the computer lab and one math classroom will be open to replace the Media Center, and an English teacher and a math teacher will be available to help the students that need it.

“That way, we still give you room to study after school, but you also get computer access and you get the math and English support,” Stefanick said.

As of yet, the computer lab has not been left open after school.

Kathleen Moore, the Library and Media Center Specialist, reports that students can still come to the media center before and during classes (with permission,) but that the Media Center will not be reopened after school.

Moore also expressed that the decision to close the Media Center was motivated by the fact that some students would not use the room to study, and use it more like a lounge for hanging out until they have to leave the building.

Despite the situation being explained to them, students are generally not content with the decision to close the Media Center after classes. Upperclassmen, who have gotten used to being able to use the room, are upset by the news.

“Closing the library because there are people using it as a hangout place is analogous to not offering scholarships because some freshmen don’t take college seriously,” said senior Camron Bowman.

The decision to close the Media Center after school was ultimately by the administration, however, Moore said.

“The reason [for closing the Media Center] is funding, because they can only fund an English teacher and a math teacher.”

Stefanick said that the English and math teachers receive additional income for staying after classes end, so the administration has to be judicious about their budgeting.

Senior Nick Dawson, also upset by the change, proposed a solution to keeping more than one teacher at school after classes, so that the administration will not have to reallocate funding.

“If the issue is paying overtime, then bring tutoring to the library and let the teacher watch the library. Tutoring is often student-led anyways, so the teacher would not be needed,” Dawson said.

Despite the students’ complaints and propositions, the administration does not plan to reopen the Media Center after school.

Students will still be able to use the Media Center in the morning from 7:15 to until classes start, and they can still check out books from the library and return them as long as it is open. Clubs that previously gathered in the Media Center will not have to relocate.