Daniel Marshall

Kicking off the next school year means new changes are happening everywhere. One of these new changes involves the recent requirement of students to sign out via google form, where information entered can be processed by PVHS administrators.

PV is kicking off the next school year, and with it have come notable changes to school policy. 

With the ongoing trends of in-school vandalism present on social media platforms such as TikTok, the school has devised a method to combat the strange trend of the destruction of school property, most notably in the restrooms. 

The method entails the recent addition of a dedicated classroom computer hosting a Google Form, which students must fill out any time they plan to leave the classroom. The information from each form is compiled and stored for later observation, where any anomalies can be recognized and, in turn, serve to dissuade a potential source of damage.

Frequent fliers will need to be more careful this year, as signing out too often may raise suspicion. Remaining anonymous when leaving the classroom will no longer be an easy task. 

The policy is a clear step up in restrictions compared to last year, likely in response to the destructive trends that took high schools across the country by storm— from damage to stalls to missing soap dispensers. Such factors have created a large inconvenience for students, and may have played a role in the addition of this new system.

Senior Colby Voss has witnessed damage to school property dealt by other students. “Once both a soap dispenser and a paper towel dispenser were missing. Some of them have whatever nonsense carved into the walls of the stalls,” Voss stated.

Many students have experienced these instances of missing items, and the quality of the restrooms have been lowered as a result. Voss continued, “I try to avoid them as much as possible.” These sentiments are shared among many students at PVHS. With the frequent issues regarding damaged school property, the new signout system might have seemed inevitable.

While the system appears to have good intentions, some students believe there are better ways to solve the problem. Senior Connor DeNike has interacted with the new signout system. “I don’t think the bathrooms are in very good condition. They definitely could have some work done, but I feel like the school tries to do too much with the bathrooms and not enough with other things,” he stated. Perhaps collecting and storing data for student activity may be too extreme for some, and there are other methods to address the issues which have yet to be looked into.

Signing out of class will become a regular occasion, but only time will tell if the new system will address school vandalism.