Teachers and the administrators announced last month that they will be cracking down on rule-breaking. Offenses like eating in class, using cell phones during school hours, and cutting in line during lunch are being more actively enforced.

By forcing students to follow rules, staff members hope to equalize the enforcement from class to class.

“We have these teachers who expect respect and others who don’t,” said AP language arts teacher Susan Henry. “If we don’t expect respect, we won’t get it.”

Henry wants the level of respect that would be found at the college level.

“I realized that if I were in a college class I would never leave my cell phone on, so why should I allow it?” Henry said.

Uniform rule enforcement has practical applications, administrators say. Assistant principal of student discipline Brian Jacobs says that prohibiting food and drink in class will make maintenance jobs easier.

“Students have been allowed to eat in class and this obviously creates a problem for maintenance people,” Jacobs said.

Some students agree that the rules should be more strictly enforced, though they may not agree with the rules themselves.

“They’re rules and rules are supposed to be followed,” said Kat Perkins, a senior. “But that doesn’t mean I agree with the rules.”

Students who break the rules face consequences like having their phones taken away or being given a referral for disrespect or insubordination.

“It depends on where they fall on the district infraction code,” Jacobs said.

Teachers may also be punished for al-lowing students to get away with using phones or eating during class.

“We’ll have a meeting and a letter will be placed in our file,” Henry said. “I hope I will never have to find out the next step.”