For budgeting reasons, DHS plans on removing the outside lunch tents and turning a gym into a second cafeteria for students to eat in. 

At the beginning of the school year, the district put aside money to lease three tents positioned outside in the courtyard that students would have the option to eat under during lunch period. These tents ensured safe eating with students properly socially distanced from one another outside.  With winter coming, that is about to change. Recently hired superintendent, Kevin Walston, stated that the tents may not be worth the money that the school board put aside. 

An article written by Julia Perkins for Danbury News Times quoted Kevin Walston stating that the money taken out of the district budget to lease the tents “may be more worthwhile to find other places to reinvest those monies.” 

According to DHS principal Daniel Donovan, the tents cost about $700,000 to lease on a yearly basis. The original plan was to have all of the students eat in their assigned classrooms, but just recently Donovan has come up with a new and more efficient idea. 

Instead of eating in the classrooms, Donovan instead decided a safer alternative would be to turn one of the gyms into a second lunch room area where students would be able to eat. He plans on keeping one tent outside for those students who prefer to eat outside but confirmed that there will no longer be heaters for students who choose to sit outside. 

Around eight hundred students are assigned in each lunch wave and providing two indoor places to eat would result in a safer indoor environment for students to take their masks off. With the high ceilings providing open ventilation, it is much less likely that covid would spread during lunch. 

Luckily so far “with the lack of transmission in school ”Danbury High School’s quarantine rate has been very low. “We will see how it goes,”  Donovan remarked. 

Donovan strongly believes that students having the chance to communicate with their peers is important, which is another reason why he decided this plan would be the better alternative. “They need time to talk with their peers, get up, move around, go outside,” Donovan added. 

Unfortunately with winter sports coming up, this plan could cause some complications. “We are looking at ways where we can take away one of the gyms.” 

Winter sports always take place inside one of the gyms and by turning one of them into a lunch room, it may start some issues with conflicting events.“They are all inside sports so we have to see the impact it has on them” Donovan added on. 

On the upside of this plan, Donovan hopes that at least part of the money reclaimed from the tents would come back to the high school “Since we are the ones that would make the sacrifice to our time and space” 

Although Mr. Donovan has no control over where the money would go, he has ideas for how it could benefit the high school.

“I think we could do some beautification around Danbury High School. I would love to be able to fund a couple of teacher requests, making sure I had all of the correct technology for all of our teachers.” Students and teachers can only hope that if this plan were to be put into use, that Danbury High School would profit.