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If not lockers, what? Photo by Bob Pennell Eagle Point High School sophomore Kia Kostman is leading the charge to find a solution to the school's no-locker policy. Students and parents are concerned about the weight of book-filled backpacks, while school officials worry about safety. Unlocking a solution Eagle Point student leads the search for way to end a weighty problem By VICKI GUARINO EAGLE POINT -- From harboring a Samurai sword to eliciting calls for the superintendent's resignation, lockers for high school students have wrought a chain of problems that maybe only a student can break. At least Eagle Point sophomore Kia Kostman is going to give it a try -- with a lot of help. Kostman heads a committee of students, parents and staff, looking for ways around a storage problem that has vexed the school and the community for some three years. "I said, `There is a problem and we need to fix it,"' Kostman says of her rise to locker leadership. The problem for Kostman, and many other students, is that school administrators have removed their lockers. As a result, kids say, they're buckling under a load of books. Packs can weigh 20 pounds and more, they say. But there also have been happy consequences, staff say. School grounds are safer because troublesome students no longer have banks of lockers to hide behind, or hide things in. Things like the Samurai sword. Administrators had been considering removing the lockers, says assistant principal Mike Remick, when a girl reported that a friend had put a Samurai sword in her locker. Staff had also been frustrated by continuous fights that broke out in secluded locker areas, Remick recalls, and supplies of alcohol and drugs they knew or suspected were inside the lockers. "We would have fights and things occurring we wouldn't know about until a kid came running out and told us," Remick says. But the sword was beyond the limits of tolerance. The weapon was confiscated, the boy was expelled, and the lockers came down. Some were removed in 1995, more in 1996 and the last lockers were hauled away in the summer of 1997. Although parents, students and staff agreed on the action, it has continued to inflame the community. Anger rose last summer to briefly engulf Superintendent Ted Adams. Some parents accused Adams of mismanagement and poor leadership, and pointed to the locker situation as evidence. Parents produced medical studies indicating that the load their kids had to carry is too great. In the aftermath of complaints came Kostman's committee. Appointed by the high school's site council, the school's powerful governing organization, Kostman was charged with finding solutions and making recommendations. The assignment has been an education in itself. With help from classmate Krissi Thomas; Thomas' mother, Kathy Starr; and Remick; Kostman has led the committee through issues ranging from medical research on spinal damage caused by lifting to price quotes for lockers. She prepares her own research and for the past four Mondays, she has been in school at 7 a.m. to lead committee meetings. "It's been hard," she admits. "It wasn't so cut and dried. I've changed my mind quite a few times." Earlier last month, Kostman wanted to bring back the lockers. "Now, after hearing so many people talk about the negatives, I think there might be a better solution," she says. On the downside of lockers, according to the committee, are the cost, the contraband, and the nonstop problems of repair and maintenance. "We had so many problems that our school developed a `jammed-locker pass,"' Remick says. "We had a form printed up. I remember as a teacher having to give those out." Students would be late to class, unable to retrieve assignments, unable to get books to take home to study. Also, lockers had been targets for theft and vandalism. Eagle Point administrators were not alone in deciding that lockers were too much trouble. Kostman has reports from school leaders scattered across the country who have done the same. The Eagle Point committee has been assessing the advantages and disadvantages of lockers and locker alternatives. The group has discussed setting up a security room with an attendant to check students' gear in and out. They've also considered a self-supporting locker rental system, similar to lockers at airports. The alternative Kostman favors at this point is the purchase of sets of classroom texts. Students would keep their own texts at home, and use the room set during class. The committee intends to poll students and staff on the recommendations, and include results in its report to the site council. The locker committee meets one more time, 7 a.m. Monday, in the high school office. The meeting is open to all. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA