Many students have noticed the empty space in the Freedom High School student center. Students are wondering, “what’s the correlation between the emptiness in my stomach with the emptiness in the student center?” For those of you who don’t know, the awkward empty area in the student center is where the vending machines once were. FHS had two vending machines, one for snacks and one for beverages. However, these machines left FHS on April 16, and not without reason.
A lot of students were upset that the vending machines were taken away. Students would sometimes use these snack machines as a substitute for their lunch, as well as buying food and beverages throughout the day.
“The vending machines left because they needed to be fitted with timers,” Principal, Mr. Timothy Dadich said.
Those timers are meant to stop students and teachers from buying snacks and drinks out of the vending machines during school hours. The timers will be set to turn on at 2:30 p.m. so that anyone participating in after-school activities can use them.
It’s important to understand that this wasn’t the fault of the school district.
According to Dadich, the contract that was established with the board and the vending company required timers.
It’s also a federal law that any type of vending machines aren’t allowed to be on during school hours. Sugary snacks and drinks are not allowed to be sold in the machines during these hours.
The school has already tried to unplug the machines during the school day, and plug them back in after school.
“[Faculty] would unplug both machines during the school day,” Dadich stated. “Students would plug in both of the machines and use them during the school day.”
Students would be eating during classes and have pop bottles sitting on their desk. It’s actually a school rule that students aren’t permitted to have food outside the cafeteria and are not to have any drinks, besides water, inside a classroom.
The vending machines are due to come back to FHS before the end of the school year. They will return with timers that will allow the machines to turn on at 2:30 p.m. every school day.