Locker shortage resolved

Blair's new policy this year asking seniors to share lockers has helped to resolve the school's locker shortage, one of the latest signs of overcrowding at Blair.

According to Business Manager Anne Alban, the school would have had to purchase 300 new lockers for $40,000 had the shortage not been alleviated.

If enrollment continues to increase next year, it is "extremely likely" that Blair will need temporary lockers, said Principal Phillip Gainous.

While there are 2,991 lockers at Blair, there were 3,250 registered students when lockers were first assigned, according to ESOL Resource Teacher Joseph Bellino.

Due to the shortage this year, the administration has allowed locker sharing for the first time since Blair moved to its new building in 1998. Seniors who wanted lockers had to turn in a form stating whether they wanted their own locker or a shared one.

There are now enough lockers for all students who want them, said Alban. About 600 seniors elected to share lockers, freeing approximately 300 lockers on the first floor.

However, according to Bellino, there were not enough lockers on the third floor for all juniors, so three and a half homerooms in the junior class, consisting of 87 students, were not assigned lockers at the beginning of school. These juniors have since received lockers.

According to Gainous, the senior sharing program took advantage of the widespread, unauthorized locker sharing already occurring. "Seniors get the privilege of doing what they do anyway," he said.

Because many locker sharing forms had to be processed, seniors did not receive lockers until the week of Sept 9, said Alban. Those who signed up for individual lockers received their lockers before those who signed up for shared ones.

The delay upset some seniors, including Phillip Francis, who had to carry a heavier backpack because he had no place to store his many textbooks.

Senior Labrosse-Ellis Anthony, however, believes the locker sharing program was an adequate, if imperfect, solution to the shortage. "I think that [locker sharing] is a good idea with what we have, but in an ideal situation, everyone should have their own locker," he said.

According to Alban, Blair's administration anticipated the current locker shortage this past spring and had tried to borrow lockers from the MCPS surplus furniture warehouse, but none were available.

Freshmen lockers have been moved from the third to the second floor at the request of ninth grade administrators, who felt they could better supervise freshmen on the second floor, where administrators' offices are located, said Alban.