No student lockers for new high school

A general contractor has assured Oconee public schools it will deliver a new high school for, at the most, nearly $54.5 million, but the school district’s director of facilities and maintenance says as much as $200 thousand is being saved by eliminating some furnishings that have been a staple of American high schools. OSD’s Richard Alexander told the Rotary Club that the new Walhalla High is being built without student lockers. Attached to walls, those bins have been the depository for years of students’ books and other property…and served as points of social interactions. But today’s technology and public education change all that, according to Alexander. Hardback books are on the decline in favor of handheld devices. And, Alexander says, the thought is that students at the 21st century Walhalla High School, at any one time, will need to carry no more than four books—all of which can be fitted into a book bag.