There are perks to taking multiple AP courses. Besides being able to opt out of college classes because you did well on the exam, a more immediate result is skipping the rest of your day.
This year, however, students are only permitted to miss one day of school after their exams and it has to be prearranged.
“I don’t think it’s fair,” said junior Will Krawczak. “You took the exam and worked hard all year so you should be able to just chill afterwards.”
In the past, students would have been able to come in with a note from their parent or guardian excusing them from the rest of their day and that was that.
Students could go home, go get food, or just hang out with their friends happy that the stress of the exam was finally over.
With the new rules in effect, students no longer have that privilege
“It’s not fair,” said senior Kathleen Barth. “After taking the test we should be able to go home.”
There are reasons for the administration having a prearranged absence forms that students must fill out to go home. It creates chaos when hundreds of students file into the attendance office dropping off papers saying that they are excused from school.
“It’s better to have something more concrete and uniform rather than little bits of paper saying their child can leave,” said Administrative Assistant for Attendance Jo Ritter.
Even though students aren’t supposed to skip any days after their exam without a prearranged absence form, it won’t deter those who would normally skip.
“I don’t really care about the new rule,” said senior Mitch Faulkner. “I’m still going to leave after my exams.”
What students are most upset about is the fact that after spending hours of time in and out of the classroom preparing for their exams, they have to return to school to learn more after taking a physically and mentally draining college level test.
“Kids skip all year long; why does it matter if it’s on the AP exam days?” said senior Cody Cashman. “The fact that they are penalizing the students that take academically challenging classes from taking a half day off from school is ridiculous.”
