As students are adjusting to the new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Building on campus, one of the most riveting topics of discussion around Aliso Niguel High School has been the new bell system. As many have observed, the introduction of the new STEM building also introduced a new bell system, which has been subject to a great deal of controversy around the school.

  As teachers and faculty began to explain the new bell system, students began to create and sign petitions to revert back to the old system. 

  When asked about the controversy regarding the bell system, Assistant Principal Mr. Jindra said “when trying to marry an old bell system with a new bell system, there are bound to be complications. To start, the Amplifier (AMP), in some of the bells, has broken.”

  This, along with experimentation, explains the variety of different sounds that students have heard throughout the last couple weeks. It also explains why the bells are louder in some areas and extremely quiet in others. It is understandable that these complications would occur after introducing a new bell system that is essentially unfamiliar with everyone on campus. However, on Thursday, Feb. 18, workers are coming to fix all the bells, to hopefully create a unison between the noises that students hear.

  Also, Mr. Jindra added, “the new bell system did not have the old bell noise, so we downloaded the closest one we could find off of the internet.”

  Hopefully, the new, similar sound will satisfy all students who miss the old sound. 

  It was also rumored that two-minute warning bells would be implemented in the schedule. Although not often, the two-minute bells have rung.

  Mr. Jindra added, “we will begin to work on the two-minute bells after the bell system is finalized.”

  Through all of the controversy with the bell system, Aliso seems confident in their plan to finalize a bell system that agrees with students, teachers, and faculty around campus.

The bells are currently working in some buildings and halls, but not all. As bells fail to ring in certain classes, students are growing increasingly curious about the schedule. Whether the bells will be fixed anytime soon is still up in the air.

Aliso hopes to return back to the norm of all bells ringing to dismiss students very soon. The issue has even caused students to be marked late to classes as they are unaware as to when periods, passing periods, tutorials, and lunch ends. Expect more updates to the system and situation very soon.