I'm not completely sure what you have thier is a gopher snake.... somebody could chime in who knows better though...

I would guess that the hides in that tank are too small for him, and that's why he isn't using them.
If you're considering a cup with a hole cut into it a "hide" you're mistaken.... and that's waayyyy too small for an almost 2 foot long snake. If you have a bowl that is 8 inches in diameter, use that, just cut a 2 inch diameter hole in the side.. near the lip of the bowl.

I'm not sure the crumbled paper is doing him any favors either. Put in flat sheets of newspaper or local advertising magazine if that's the only substrate you have or can find...

From my knowledge, these snakes (if it is a gopher) can grow up to 10 feet long in captivity... so a 40 gallon is the minimum for it.

If you found him inside a school, he's probably a natural species of the area. Find the humidity of your state's region and apply that to your snake. ONLY if you cannot find the proper humidities for the snake's requirements,

Sorry if this sounds rough and rude... I'm just trying to be direct and as informative as I can be. No worries about being in the wrong forum... you wrote in the General Colubrids section, so it's not a big boo boo.