Administration – Pueblo High School

Pueblo Administration Cracks Down On Tardies

By Dulce Florez and Aileen Ortiz

It’s hard to ignore the long lines formed outside the front office each morning, often exceeding 200 students.

These students are not there for exercise; they are tardy.

Beginning Oct. 23, Pueblo administration began enforcing the new tardy policy.

Assistant principal Meg Tully, who helps enforce this policy, said, “We [administration] needed to send a message to students about their excessive tardies.”

Students who arrive at 8:10 a.m. or thereafter (on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; and on Wednesdays after 8:50) will have to stand in line in order to receive a time-stamped color-coded pass when they at last arrive at the health office lobby.

“Tardies have been a huge problem for Pueblo for many years,” said Tully. “We administrators are helping out teachers in terms of hopefully changing student behavior.”

Once students arrive at the health office lobby after standing in line for as long as 20 minutes, students will need to have their ID or Student Vue scanned, at which time they will receive a time-stamped colored pass to be admitted to their classes.

Not everybody is happy about the policy.

Junior Jessica Palomares said, “This new tardy policy is stupid. It’s all a waste of time because it’s making students even later to their first period of the day. I don’t understand why it’s so inconvenient for teachers to mark students late.”

However, some students see the logic in the policy.

Jose Urquijo, a junior, said, “I think that the new tardy rules are better because we will see better behavior among the students, and thus we will have a better education and more control over the students who have a really bad habit of coming to school late.”

However, Tully and the other administrators are very “enthusiastic” about the new tardy policy and remind students that this policy will continue “indefinitely”.

“We have seen a drop of tardy students over the past few weeks,” Tully said. “In the beginning, there were an average of about 260 students tardy, and now that number is about 220 students, which is still high but still an improvement.”

New Dean At PHS Receives ‘Big’ Welcome

By Jonathan Redondo

The 2023-24 school year is definitely a school year of “new hires” at PHS. One of the more than two dozen new faces to grace our campus is our new Dean of Students, Mr. Simon Arriola.

Coming from Austin, Tex., Arriola is bringing “big” plans from the state where everything is bigger. He oversees all disciplinary actions at Pueblo, focusing on keeping students productive and maintaining order on campus.

“If you aren’t in trouble, there’s a good chance you don’t know me,” Arriola said half-jokingly.

Arriola said his first impressions at Pueblo were positive.

“It was clear from my first few days at Pueblo that this great school has many diligent students, and they have multiple opportunities to be successful,” he said. “The sheer number of students hoping to graduate and move on in their next chapter of life is very impressive.”

He added that the College Preparatory Academy is one example of offering students big opportunities for success.

“I already feel like a Warrior,” Arriola said. “I’m excited about helping students strive for excellence and success.”

TUSD’s New Code Of Conduct Goes Into Effect

by Jonathan Redondo

The TUSD Governing Board unanimously approved the district’s new Code of Conduct this summer before the 2023-2024 school year. It went into effect this fall.

This change comes as many educators and staff members in TUSD, including many at Pueblo High School, have been pushing for a more organized way to keep campuses safe.

Mr. Cristobal Santa Cruz, a longstanding and beloved social studies teacher, as well as Pueblo alumni, was a major proponent of the push for a new Code of Conduct, gathering hundreds of signatures and writing a petition.

Santa Cruz said, “Right now, things seem a lot calmer.” However, he added that Pueblo and TUSD will not see the full effects of the Code of Conduct change “until the year’s end.”

Another proponent of the long-awaited change was another PHS (English) teacher, Mr. Gage Stewart. An Area Director for Tucson Education Association, he was a formidable factor for a new Code of Conduct, often lending his voice and mind to the cause.

Stewart said he is not looking for more “punitive measures” or more “police on campus,” but is looking for better ways to “keep campuses safe.”

With this change, many teachers and administration officials are holding onto hope for this new year. Only time will tell how much effect this will have on students, faculty, and staff, and just how much safer TUSD campuses will be for the remainder of the school year.

Pueblo Administration Closes Hallway, Now Reopened

By Alyvette Moreno & Jenna Twaje

As Pueblo High School students walked the halls and climbed the stairs near the end of the first quarter, they were met with an unexpected block on their treks to classes.

The main hallway and stairways leading to it were closed and stayed closed until the end of the quarter. PHS administrators had been considering this idea for a while due in part to some of the violent, chaotic events at Cholla and Tucson High.

One day after second lunch ended, a “mob” started with students throwing water bottles around. Admin then decided to implement the closure of the main entrance.

“It [discipline problems] was [were] becoming a real safety concern,” said Principal Frank Rosthenhausler.

For some monitors, the closure made their jobs more challenging with students trying to sneak into the main hallway from the main entrance doors.

Security monitor Ms. Nellie Rivera said, “If the kids didn’t throw water bottles, then the hallway wouldn’t be shut down. Students suffer with the consequences of their bad actions.”

Mr. Simon Arriola, PHS’s Dean of Students, said, “The closure is only effective if the students realize they should not throw water bottles at each other.”

Many students had negative opinions on the hallway closing.

“It honestly sucked, and I didn’t like going around, I was late to all my classes,” said Kaz Detwiler, a sophomore.

Malo Anaya, a senior, believes admin’s decision wasn’t effective. “I think way more people were hanging out upstairs or on the stairs.”

Rosthenhausler said he didn’t like closing the hallways but said, “It was effective in removing what I thought was a dangerous situation.”

After a week of fall break, students were welcomed to the main hall and stairs being opened again.

A majority of PHS students took this return to normalcy positively.

CCTV Goes Live At Pueblo

By Jose Nagore

More than 50 new cameras have been installed throughout Pueblo High School, replacing the old, dozen-year old nonfunctional cameras.

These new cameras cost nearly $90,000 and were funded by Tucson Unified School District, keeping Warriors safer than ever. In the short time they have been completely installed—a project that began late last school year and completed before the beginning of this school year—they have already prevented trespassers from entering campus; they have stopped fights quicker; and they have proved to be instrumental in getting more information about “other incidents”.

“[The cameras are] not necessarily to catch students doing wrong things,” said Ms. Karla Martinez, Assistance Principal, who was instrumental in this project. “These cameras are primarily for safety purposes. We can see if a student runs away from a fight, or see if someone jumps the fence to get in.”

These cameras are not located in the restroom for privacy purposes.

The screens for all camera film can be found in the offices of all four offices of our administrators, who are the only ones who have access to the recordings, which record 24/7.

“Do I feel safer? Yes, I do!” Martinez said.

‘Big Brother’ Keeping An Eye On Warriors

By Mariah Lopez & John Ruiz

“Big Brother” has made its way to Pueblo High School as 25 cameras, in virtually every corner of school, have been installed.

These cameras cost $150,000, which has been paid for by the district’s “special budget.”

Assistant principal Karla Martinez said, “I am very happy to have updated cameras because they produce much clearer images than the old cameras.”

Most staff members interviewed for this story approve of the cameras. However…some students have mixed opinions about the “eyes” around campus, which are inconspicuously smaller and harder to detect than the old cameras.

Emely Villanueva, a junior said, “The new cameras are a little creepy, but they will provide for a safer campus. With a shortage of monitors, these cameras might fill the void of campus security.”

Freshmen Marquis said, “I feel weird being watched all the time. It ruins my privacy.”

Senior Diego Ramirez said. “It’s also scary not knowing where all the cameras are… they could be anywhere.”

…Which is the whole point. Administration is confident that these cameras will aid in controlling discipline and inhibiting bad behavior.

Martinez said, “The cameras were installed in all areas around the school. It’s now possible to see virtually every inch of Pueblo’s campus.”

Security monitors are also optimistic about the new cameras helping keep order on campus.

Security monitor Ms. Nellie Rivera said, “No matter where a student is located, administration and school safety have access to cameras in any location, from phones and monitors in the office. These cameras won’t solve every problem, but they will certainly help.”