Ever since the transition back to school, one major talking point has been the new cafeteria seating arrangement. The new cafeteria has different seating options for people who want to change up their seating habits. However, the feedback from the HHS student community has been mostly negative.
Many people feel that the budget to change the cafeteria seating could have been allocated to areas of the school in desperate need of attention, with senior Maddie Cleary adding, “Instead of the tables, we should fix all these holes in our ceilings, all the leaks in our school, and the sinks in our bathrooms.”
While students’ initial opinions about the school change are understandable, The Harborlight learned from Principal Dr. Buckey that one important financial aspect to understand is that the school’s cafeteria has funds specifically allocated for the cafeteria that cannot be used for other school projects.
Kim Smyth, the Food Service Director here at HHS, also provided information valuable to the circumstances regarding the tables and budgeting.
Smyth notes, “Food Services is a self-sustaining department, meaning we do not receive funding from the school district’s operating budget to support our program. All Food Services expenses, including labor, food and supply purchases, equipment, and repairs, are funded through the department. As a federally regulated program, we are also required to maintain our reserve funds within established limits. The High School cafeteria had been in need of new tables for some time, but funding was not available through the school budget for this improvement. While I cannot speak to the details of the school’s operating budget, cafeteria tables are an allowable Food Services expense. Therefore, Food Services took on the cost of replacing the tables to provide students with adequate seating and to create a more welcoming and functional cafeteria environment.”
Smyth’s information helps to clear up some of the complaints students may have had, falsely thinking school funds were used for the cafeteria that could have gone elsewhere in the school. This is obviously not the case. Smyth’s explanation also helps remind HHS that, in regards to the seating arrangements, the student community was considered in the reconfiguration process.
It’s important to also understand why HHS made the investment in the cafeteria seating. Over the course of a few years, the tables and seats were clearly getting older, with some tables being crooked and broken, and some seats were slanted and straining to the back. Many students have also been injured due to the old seating, since occasionally the seat tops would come loose, causing people to fall or have been scraped by the metal.
The HHS community would agree that the last tables needed an upgrade, but they were not expecting luxurious new designs with Hingham decals plastered all over them. Bianca Kiley, a senior, adds to this sentiment, stating, “I think a lot of people don’t do well with change, especially with the high-top seating. It also used to be Hingham tradition for seniors to sit at the circle tables, but now there isn’t that specialty. It feels like they took away the senior privilege. On the other hand, I do like the booth seating because it’s really comfortable.”
A lot of seniors are holding a negative opinion towards the switch because, as freshmen, the circle tables were something to look forward to. Joanna An, a sophomore, was at the high school before the switch, and she shared, “I think there is an improvement in the options of seating and the safety, but I think the money could’ve been used to supply equipment for teachers, who sometimes have to buy things out of pocket.”
Hingham High has recently made a lot of budget cuts, and when some aspects of the school, like the caf, have an upgrade when other aspects don’t, some kids feel frustrated and assume the administration is not prioritizing the most pressing needs, which is not the case.
For example, the girls’ sinks in the cafeteria barely work, and the other one only opens boiling water, making it difficult to attend to personal hygiene. Many girls have been complaining about this, and the only change to the sinks has been in the 180s bathroom.
Also, the bathrooms in the science hallway remain locked most of the time, which has annoyed many students as the bathrooms in the 280s become crowded, causing students to waste time waiting. But as The Harborlight has learned, these school needs would come from a different operating budget, and therefore are on a list of needs that need attention and budget prioritizing.
The Harborlight wondered how the custodial staff felt about the new cafeteria changes. Matt, one custodian here at HHS, explained how the new seating affected the janitorial routine of cleaning: “These seating arrangements are harder to clean, especially right after 12:30. It’s very difficult to reach certain areas, and the high-tops are very heavy to move compared to the foldable tables. The new foldable tables are lighter to fold, but it doesn’t help that our cleaning solution stains the tables, so we have to be careful now with what cleaner we use. The tables also have to be air-dried, taking away time from other responsibilities.”
Bianca Kiley added, “I have cafeteria study, but the tables were being air-dried, so for half of the study nobody could do paperwork.”
One constant made clear to The Harborlight was that the new seating at HHS is receiving some pushback from both the staff and students. Many of the teachers did not even know that the school was working on getting new seating, leaving them just as surprised as the students.
Many students hope that the school is considering budgeting for an HVAC system, as the high school gets extremely hot in the summer months and very cold in the winter.
Hopefully, in the future, a middle ground is reached to attend to the needs of the cleaning staff and students and to advocate for issues necessary to be addressed within the school building.
If you are interested in bringing student complaints and concerns to the school administration, join the school council with Dr. Buckey so that our student issues can be directly heard and addressed.
