Ever since its inception, the Cleansweep instituted by Principal Gordon has been widely met with opposition. The complaints about this school-wide panic range from logical and reasonable to absurd extremes.

    The Cleansweep is a policy where teachers lock their doors after the bell rings and anyone caught outside of class is sent to their class with ISS scheduled at a later date. The Cleansweep is completely random and is the fear of many students.

    A common strategy for Principal Gordon is to warn of the Cleansweep at school assemblies if requirements such as behavior and grades fail to meet his standards. This is usually accompanied by an ominous warning on the loudspeaker.

    A popular complaint with students is that the Cleansweep is unfair and that the five minutes allotted to get to class is not enough time to avoid the Cleansweep.

    Be that as it may, in the three years that I have been going to James Monroe, I have never once been caught in a Cleansweep. As reasonable as any argument gets, there is simply no excuse for arriving to class late.

    As an example, last year, I had to walk from Mrs. Radolinski’s room from first period all the way down to Mr. Landram’s room for second. I had more than enough time to get the necessary books from my locker and walk down to his shop near the choir room.

    This example shows that there really is no excuse to be late as it is quite simple to get the required books from your locker and get to class on time.

    I believe that the Cleansweep policy is effective in its job to inspire students to get to class on time. I find it necessary because that many students will arrive to school late, often skipping first period.

    I realize that many seniors do not have a first period and as such can afford to arrive to school a period late, but if everyone else has to go school, I feel they are responsible for it as well.

    I feel that Principal Gordon has every right to use the Cleansweep policy. I will also support its use as long as it is in effect. The Cleansweep policy’s job is to incite students to arrive to class on time and it has performed its job admirably for the time it has been in effect.