On Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, Berkeley High School Vice Principal AnnieJae Fischburg announced to the school that, starting Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, all gates at Berkeley High School except for the MLK and M gate would be closed every day until 8:00 a.m.
Yorda Weldeghiorgis, BHS Dean of Students, said that the change was implemented to increase security in response to breaches on campus in the preceding weeks. “BHS is an open campus, and there’s a lot of safety and security issues that come with that, so by limiting openings we’re just trying our best to ensure student and staff safety, and I’ve seen a lot of support for that,” Weldeghiorgis said. Additionally, there have been multiple incidents concerning the unhoused encampment in Civic Center Park, including reports of sexual harassment and trespassing. According to Walter Mitchell, a safety officer at BHS, administrators agreed to enhance safety measures and close gates during zero periods at BHS because there are no full-time gate-monitoring staff at 7:30 in the morning.
BHS Students and staff shared mixed reactions, highlighting both benefits and drawbacks.
Aaron Glimme teaches a zero-period AP Chemistry class at BHS. In the past ten days, he has noticed a slight increase in zero-period tardies, but thinks that this was due to the suddenness of the closure, rather than an ongoing problem. “On the first day, people were a little bit late because the notification was not as forward-looking as one might hope. Once you know which gates are open, you can get to those gates. After a few days, there’s no significant change. People just need to know which gates to come in, and then it’s not — I don’t personally think it’s a big deal,” Glimme said. He believes that the policy is well-intended and provides more benefits than drawbacks. The gates at BHS are fairly close together, and over time, students can adjust their routines to arrive at zero period on time.
For safety officers, this gate closure is a very important step towards school-wide security. Mitchell comments on the lack of safety officers until 8:00 a.m. being a security problem. Following an incident last week where an unhoused individual trespassed on BHS grounds during zero period, Mitchell is glad there is action to prevent similar situations from occurring again. “This policy impacts school safety quite a bit, because that keeps the people from the mental health clinic off the campus when no one’s here, as well as the homeless encampment individuals. They might come in to use the restroom, or hang out in a classroom or a building. So it helps a lot right now, until we can figure something else out,” Mitchell said.
Some students with zero period classes feel that this change in policy has affected their attendance. Ethan Guan, a BHS sophomore currently enrolled in zero period orchestra, stated that he was late multiple times due to the new protocol. “A lot of the people I know are from zero period, and … of the students that come in during zero period (a lot) are band and orchestra kids using the A building, so it’s a big inconvenience for … zero period attendees when the A gate is closed every morning,” Guan said.
Despite these frustrations, many students believe the policy has improved campus security. “I do feel safer… because now there’s less possible entrances for people to enter,” Guan stated. Others share a similar sentiment, emphasizing the reduced risk of unwanted visitors. “I don’t have to worry about someone dangerous being there when I get to school, and especially since, if I show up late I’m the only one to deal with it,” Camilo Munist, a BHS sophomore and AP Chemistry student who attends zero period, said.
While parking was initially a potential concern, following the gate closures, both Mitchell and Munist agree that they have not seen any change in parking or traffic flow during zero period around BHS. However, Munist does acknowledge that he has recently seen a surge in foot traffic around the MLK gate. According to Weldeghiorgis, the MLK and M gates were chosen to remain open during zero period “to have strategic openings that were available on both sides of the street so that parking wouldn’t be a one sided issue.”
As for how long the policy will last, “there isn’t any plan to change it. This policy is indefinite,” Weldeghiorgis said.