The JHS school board announced at its Dec. 18 meeting that the 2025 spring semester will serve as an experimental trial period for an open campus policy. The policy will allow for all students with driver’s licenses, regardless of age or grade, to drive off campus during their lunch periods, so long as a parent or guardian fills out a permission form and liability waiver.
“We are giving our students the opportunity to do this safely and successfully,” said JHS superintendent Erik Wilkerson. “There will be a one-semester trial period, and we’ll see how it works. We’ll be taking feedback from parents, staff, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to determine if this is something we can continue, going forward.”
All students are presently permitted to walk from campus during their lunch periods. However, limited dining options along Boulder’s Main Street have caused some students difficulty in acquiring a lunch within the 30 minutes allotted to them. Though an in-school lunch service is provided during the school day, the open campus policy seeks to improve student access to local eateries, particularly Boulder’s Town Pump gas station, and provide them with an additional degree of freedom.
