In the early morning of Monday, Jan. 20, Community Assistant Kevin Davis strode about CHS posting yellow flyers. Affixing them to walls, doors and stairways, he placed the placards strategically so that no student would be able to miss them.

As students began to trickle in throughout the following hours, all were able to read the news proclaimed by the myriad posters: the second floor of Kerrytown was closed to all students during lunch and the afternoon.

The decision was made by Dean Marci, Assistant Dean Rebecca and Davis after a meeting with Joe O’Neal, the owner of Kerrytown.

“What happened was a few students were being very disruptive,” Davis said. “This has happened more than once, so the management of Kerrytown and us here at Community decided that well we’ll just stop kids from going up to the second floor because most of you aren’t buying anything up there.”

Davis stresses, however, that the ban is only during lunch and the early afternoon; students are free to go upstairs at Kerrytown during the morning and after school.

“That’s [afterschool] is another story because we’re not in charge of you then,” Davis said.

The second-floor ban is not a new rule. It’s been several years since the last time such a ban was enacted, but the second floor has been placed off-limits before when students have behaved inappropriately.

“Last time we stopped [people from going to the second floor] is because of a lot of shoplifting and a lot of yelling and screaming,” Davis said. “That’s basically why we do it [ban the second floor]. If you look at the storefronts, the glass to each store only goes so high, so the sound just travels over the glass.”

As for how long this new policy will last, Davis isn’t totally sure. He thinks the administration will give it a few weeks at least, and then reevaluate if they think behavior has improved. In the meantime, he wants students to remember to behave on the first floor of Kerrytown as well as the second.

“[Students] have to show proper behavior on the first floor [of Kerrytown] just as much,” Davis said. “Be courteous to other people who are shopping there; you know, just don’t clog up the aisles. That’s the main problem we’re really having downstairs.”