DUBLIN — The high school locker, a long-standing symbol of teen years, may become a thing of the past in Dublin.
The Dublin school district, which is doing major renovations to its lone comprehensive high school, is recommending that lockers not be part of the renovated campus.
Dublin wouldn’t be the first district to eliminate lockers, but students and others aren’t happy about the idea.
Cost is a consideration, Superintendent Stephen Hanke said. The district estimates that new lockers would cost $800,000 to $1 million. Plus, the district would likely have to spend $30,000 to $35,000 annually on locker repairs and maintenance.
If the renovated school does go lockerless, the district would purchase an extra set of textbooks so students would have books in class and at home, Hanke said. That would cost an initial $150,000 to $300,000.
The district generally adopts one new textbook a year, and getting sets for classrooms would cost $40,000 to $65,000 annually. But with instructional materials changing and becoming more computerized, the district expects fewer costs in the future and less need for lockers, Hanke said.
“It’s likely we will be using discs,” he said.
The locker issue surfaced at the school board meeting Tuesday, but no decision was made. The district wants a decision made by April so plans can be made for next year, Hanke said.
Although a majority of school board members support eliminating lockers, President David Haubert opposes the idea, citing the added cost of a second set of books.
And, although district staff members pointed out that illegal items can be kept in lockers, Haubert said there should be other ways to prevent that.
“To me, that sounds like punishing all students for the actions of a few,” he said, adding that students with cars could leave belongings there, but going to their vehicles could also tempt them to cut classes.
Dublin High students interviewed last week said they would hate to lose access to lockers. They quickly mentioned the binders they carry, with some adding that they are required to keep a separate binder for each class.
“We have a lot of binders,” said Esteli Estrada, 16, a junior.
Juniors Ashley Hernandez, 17, and Matty Banks, 16, said last year they were without lockers for a few months because of construction at the school.
Matty found someone to share a locker with, he said.
“I just had to carry my stuff,” Ashley said.
While going lockerless may seem radical to some, other schools have done it for years — even though some have since brought lockers back.
The San Ramon Valley school district does not have middle school lockers. The decade-old Iron Horse Middle School was not built with them, district spokesman Terry Koehne said.
All San Ramon Valley high schools have lockers. One school, San Ramon Valley High in Danville, got rid of them temporarily in the late 1990s.
“So many kids were complaining of sore backs,” Koehne said.
The Pleasanton school district has not had lockers in the middle or high schools for more than a decade, district spokeswoman Myla Grasso said. Cost was the primary factor, she said.
Contact Eric Louie at 925-847-2123.
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