Since the very first day of school, students have been talking about the size of the cafeteria, and how there aren’t enough seats to fit all of the students. Aside from the cafeteria, students are permitted to eat above the stairs right outside the library and outside in the courtyard. However, the students have nowhere to sit [at those locations] due to the lack of table space. Leaving them with no place to sit, some even sit in the dirt. The complaints of not having enough space lead to the opening of the front courtyard, along with security to keep watch over the students. Even with that change, there still isn’t enough room for all the students to be able to sit during their lunch period.

When asked where she sat during lunch, Arianna Conklin, a junior at Central Kitsap High School, responded with, “I have to sit outside because there’s no room to sit in the cafeteria. When I do sit inside, half of my friends would have to sit on the floor in the corner because the table would be all filled up.”  In order to improve the current seating situation, Conklin stated, “I would put tables outside, and more covered areas and open up more spots in the school for students to sit.”

Rick Haskins, a security guard at Central Kitsap High School, shared an anecdote: “When I was a student, teachers opened up their classrooms to seniors for lunch. If you worked it out with the teachers, that’d be an idea.”  Haskins also added that when observing the lunchroom from up above, he notices several empty seats, but no one sits in them because they don’t want to separate from their friends.

For instance, when Klara Madan, a freshman at Central Kitsap Highschool, was given the choice to sit alone or to stand with her friends, Madan said “I’d rather stand alone than sit away from my friends because lunch is a free period to socialize with my friends, some of which I don’t even have any classes with.” Madan also informed that “some people have to sit down in the spaces between the seats so they have a place to sit. I would like to see benches put in for the tables, and a third lunch if possible.” When questioned if it’s stressful not knowing whether you may have a place to sit or not, Madan replied that “unfortunately I already know I won’t have a spot before the lunch bell even rings. I usually have to stand three out of the five days of school.”