More than four years ago, SJHHS school staff banned Doordash and all other food delivery services from delivering food during school hours. Today the services are still banned and we are still facing the consequences of their actions.

Food delivery services, much like all things that have been banned from school, had many reasons to be banned in the schools eyes.

One of the main threats that the school saw from these services, is that the driver could be a criminal, or could come to threaten our school. Doordash has a strict policy where only people with a clean record can drive. 

In the eyes of campus supervisors, the main purpose of the ban was due to students were ditching class.

“It pushed us to a point when students said they were going to the restroom, and they would ditch class to get food. We really struggled because we’re not talking about just one student. We had hundreds of students leaving class to get a coffee,” said Earl Pagal.

This doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal, because students will ditch class even if they don’t have delivery services. Students could be walking around campus on their phones, and the supervisors will never know the difference.

Another reason cited by the school was the confusion delivery drivers had giving students their food.

“They don’t know they are delivering to the school. When they come on campus they are surprised and shocked. Sometimes they park and walk around, so they don’t know where to go and what they are here for,” said Kim Jensen.

If we allowed them to drop the food at the office, we can make sure we know what we’re dealing with, and might just be able to come to an agreement.

Many viewed the influx of drivers to SJHHS as just another reason for long wait times in the parking lot.

“It is for the wellbeing of the students as well as the wellbeing of our campus. It can also cause a traffic problem,” said Kim Jensen.

While I understand the need for space in the lot during school hours, I also believe that there is a loophole in this. At lunch time, drivers can park away from the school, and walk down the food. Or another alternative, is to drop it off at the baseball fields.

The problem most vocally spoken about is the potential threat of allowing an unknown driver onto school campus during school hours.

“Another struggle we had was the food person will come to make the delivery but the student would only put their first name on the receipt so we cant locate the student. It also poses as a threat because we feel it is safer to not have people coming during the academic day,” said Pagal.

The solution to this problem, is that delivery services can ask for their last name, or campus can force them to put their name on it. The school can make a rule, that if they allow the services to deliver, they need to have a first and last name.

Campus supervisors, the people who most frequently dealt with delivery drivers aren’t against, rather the district administration is.

“I don’t think were opposed to it, we just need [approval] from the district. I don’t know what other schools do or how they do it. We need a direct and guide from the administration,” said Jensen.

Delivery services are difficult services to allow at school, but with some safety precautions, we might just be able to make it work.