Thr3e is a very popular place among students.

Before and after school it is bustling with high school students. We all know there are students that go during lunch time besides the fact that it is against the rules.

A majority of the school wonders why we are not allowed across the street at the well-liked coffee shop for lunch and despite what most students assume that rule is not a school policy but district policy.

Personally, I love Thr3e and having a coffee shop with many desirable snacks across the street is convenient. I agree along with 95 percent of the student body that we should be able to go during lunchtime. Nevertheless is this request attainable?

Running Start students can go over to Thr3e at their leisure even if they are students at PHS at the time they cross the street regardless of it being against the rules. During lunchtime they can walk over to Thr3e and in the event a staff member sees them the issue is waved off when they state that they are a Running Start student.

Thr3e resides on private property but I cannot see the management arguing with more customers coming through during the day. District policy states that students leaving school property during school hours is not permitted however, Thr3e is right across the street and it is a little preposterous to consider it off campus thus applying disciplinary actions to students seems unjust.

If there are concerns that PHS students will not return to school once they have left campus to go to Thr3e, then there should be even more concern when students walk towards the portables. The portables are right next to the parking lots and technically part of the campus. Thr3e is further from the parking lot than most of the school and it would be more difficult to leave school from Thr3e than from anywhere else on campus.

A major factor in the equation is safety. Especially with all the incidents happening at schools across the country recently, safety is a huge factor in student life. Besides the presence of a teacher, students are just as safe across the street at Thr3e as they are across the street in the portables. If there were an attack on the school, students may be safer at Thr3e than the cafeteria or anywhere there may be an abundance of students and staff. However, I am not suggesting Thr3e is an appropriate safety zone for students during dangerous occurrences.

Being able to go to Thr3e during lunch would definitely brighten up my day and give a little change in environment. Changing from the colorful spirited walls of our school to the warm reds and yellows of the coffee shop across the street would help me get through the other half of the day. Letting students go across the street could very well open up the cafeteria more, shortening lines within the school and giving students more places to congregate. In reality though, being able to go to Thr3e would be a challenge for the school to make possible and is very unlikely to happen in the near future.