By Brian Anderson
San Ramon Valley Times

Sept. 18, 1999

DANVILLE — Lured by pizza, salads and deafening music, students at San Ramon Valley High School are adapting to the first stage of a four-year plan to close the doors of the district's only open campus.

Most of the 565 freshmen at the school have come to grips with San Ramon Valley Unified School District's decree requiring them to stay on campus while their upper-class brethren flee for a bite to eat, students and officials said.

"We'd rather go out there because we're stuck here all day," said Adrian Miu, a 13-year-old freshman who was swigging some soda with his friends during lunch Friday afternoon. "I'd rather have like Burger King and stuff. But if I've got to stay here, it's OK with me."

Freshmen are the only students who must stay on campus this year. A grandfather clause in the policy will force both freshmen and sophomores to eat their lunch on school grounds next year, and then juniors will join them in the 2001-02 year. The campus will be completely closed as of September 2002.

Officials approved the closure earlier this year to bring the school in line with other district schools and out of concern for students' safety, said Rob Stockberger, district director of secondary education.

"We feel that we're best able to provide a safe campus and supervision when they're here," he said. "We're spread thin when we're forced to supervise both downtown and campus."

San Ramon Valley High was the last school to keep students from leaving during lunch because there is limited food service and not enough space to put its 1,968 students. That's why the district is phasing in the closure.

Monte Vista High in Danville and California High in San Ramon have been closed for at least five years, said a district spokesman.

To keep freshmen honest, San Ramon Valley High assistant principal Sylvia Ryan said officials check student identification cards when most students head for their cars and downtown at 12:15 p.m.

An administrator will also cruise downtown Danville looking for the fresh faces that give the young students away.

If nabbed sneaking off campus, freshmen could be stuck with just a warning or be suspended if it wasn't their first time away from school.

"We've only had four or five this year," Ryan said.

To make it more enjoyable for those stranded during lunch, a student disc jockey spins pop music that blares through the quad as students mingle about. Teen-age favorites such as pizza, fresh deli sandwiches and salads also lessen the blow, said Dan Morrow, director of the district's food services.

"It seems like we're reaching that segment of the population with our service," Morrow said. "We're still fine-tuning it, but we feel that it's been successful."

Though the campus closure will be phased in, it is expected to affect a number of downtown merchants who serve the lunch crowd.

Gary Martinez, owner of a Garlex Pizza near San Ramon Valley High, said his business will dip when the students stop coming. But adults who want pizza for lunch but haven't been willing to wade through a sea of teens will keep the ovens hot, he said.

"It'll actually be cheaper in the long run because we won't have to repair the facilities and we won't have to have security," Martinez said. "Overall, we think it's a good idea."

Martinez, who's seen thousands of students come through in the nine years he's been there, said kids from other schools knew that San Ramon Valley High students congregated at the pizza joint and would come around to pick fights.

Still, some freshmen said the policy was unjust while others proposed allowing only seniors the privilege to leave campus. Others conceded there was not much they could do but follow the rules.

"At first I thought it was unfair," said Jennifer Murphy, 14. "It's just something that we're going to have to get used to."