Additional campus supervisors increase ranks to 4

Two new campus supervisors joined the staff at TPHS on Sept. 25, bringing the total number of supervisors to four.

Matthew Lopez, one of the new supervisors along with Marshall Saunders, said this increase in staff will improve safety at TPHS.

“One thing I definitely noticed about schools in this area is that they’re very open, so having more eyes and ears everywhere definitely helps [improve safety],” he said. “We get to cover a lot more ground.”

TPHS Principal Robert Coppo agreed.

“I think it’ll be significantly safer having twice as many people out there keeping an eye on things,” he said. “It’s already been so much more efficient.”

According to Coppo, TPHS had to reduce staff back in 2008 due to the state budget crisis — which meant fewer supervisors. Despite the campus growing by one-third since then, the supervisor staff had not been increased.

Now, with more supervisors, their routes around campus have been revised.

“[I]n the morning and the afternoon, each one of them will do something a little bit different,” Coppo said. “That way they all know what to do everywhere on campus.”

Coppo is not the only Falcon aware of the need for supervision on a campus this size.

“Our campus is big, so if [the campus supervisors] have to be going all around the school, it would make more sense to have more of them,” Nike Vargas (11) said.

The campus supervisors oversee a variety of campus routines, including monitoring of the lunch line, directing traffic in the mornings and afternoons and delivering messages for teachers and students from administration, attendance or counseling.

So far, Saunders has mostly worked in the B Building. During breaks between periods, he ensures that students make it to class; during class time, he observes the halls to minimize loitering, he said.

In particular, Coppo said that campus supervisors have been helpful with monitoring bathrooms to ensure they are “a safe place” for students. This sentiment is especially prevalent in the wake of a recent hate crime in a student restroom [story on A5].

For Emma Williams (12), this is exactly the role of a campus supervisor. According to Williams, campus supervisors should “watch if students are doing anything bad … and fix their behavior” if necessary. Campus supervisors fill this job description, according to Saunders.

“[One of my duties is] just roaming the campus, making sure everything is good and making sure students are where they’re supposed to be,” he said.

Coppo hopes that students know that there are more campus supervisors looking out for them.

“What I hope more than anything is that [the campus supervisors] will create additional connection with students on campus [by] getting to know kids, being there for them if they need help and helping educate them on things,” Coppo said.

Photo by Anna Opalsky/Falconer