The election of Donald J. Trump as the future President of the United States has the entire country at odds, and Niles North High School is no different. Confusion and conflict is rampant, however as always, things are beginning to slip into normality. Going forward, an important question regardless of political views is how exactly a Trump Presidency will affect the Niles North community.

The Trump campaign’s overall vagueness on the vast majority of their policies has left much uncertainty in terms of what exactly will be happening once January comes and Trump is inaugurated. Still, Trump has made comments and plans for his first one hundred days, and much of his policies can be seen via PolitiPlatform.

Furthermore, there are several policies that could potentially have both positive and negative effects on the environment, the economy, and the stability of America. For the purpose of this article, however, there will be a focus on policies that will specifically impact Niles North’s community.

To begin, Trump plans to “immediately add an additional federal investment of $20 billion towards school choice.” The goal of this initiative would be to provide lower income students with better schools to attend instead of government chartered schools, so this probably will not have much of an impact on Niles North. Attached to this proposition, however, is an emphasis on impoverished children, and what is not mentioned is any plan for providing free or reduced lunches. According to Niles North’s Illinois State Report Card, about one third (34%) of students attending Niles North are eligible for free or reduced lunch. Funding for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) may be put under review, however even though Trump has not mentioned the program, it has existed since Harry Truman’s presidency in the 1940s so the NSLP’s existence should not currently be a point of contention.

Another of Trump’s stances focuses on affordable college: Trump plans to “ensure that the opportunity to attend a two or four-year college, or to pursue a trade or a skill set through vocational and technical education, will be easier to access, pay for, and finish.” As the college debt currently rises faster than the rate of inflation, this legislation will hopefully provide much needed relief to lower and middle class people struggling to pay for college. Niles North students would heavily benefit from something like this.

Teachers with children will benefit from Trump’s proposed tax deductions for child care expenses. Trump also proposed six potential weeks of paid leave to mothers after they give birth and to incentivize businesses to create child care services. Niles North already offers maternity leave, but it is taken out of the their sick days. Niles North also already has child care services. Overall, these changes would likely have a positive effect on Niles North.

A common misconception is that Planned Parenthood only is for abortions, but the organization provides a number of general services involving women’s health. Trump currently plans to defund Planned Parenthood in its entirety, something that would negatively affect many women, including at Niles North.

A number of students at Niles North are undocumented or live in the United States on a visa. Trump has made many blanket statements regarding immigrants and currently, there is no clear indication of what his immigration policy will encompass.

Those are currently some of the biggest positives and negatives of a Trump Presidency’s immediate effect on Niles North. Trump’s policy ambiguities will become more clear as the next few months unfold, and we will see the extent in which our lives will change over the next four years.