Starting the new school year there have been a few changes to the format of the exemption policy. This year we now have the chance to skip first semester finals which is no doubt something to be interested in. But they changed the way to earn the privilege to skip finals.
The same old rule is in place that you can not have any unexcused absences no matter what, but what has changed is that you get only three excused absences. That’s it. Whether you are sick or you have a doctor’s appointment and miss school, it counts as one of your three absences. There are two exceptions to this and that is your five mental health days and your two college days (juniors and seniors). This policy has people upset because they feel like it is encouraging people to come into school sick and it can spread illness around more than it would if sick people were to just stay home.
“I think it’s a good concept but three is a little low,” Said senior Aiden James “Sometimes people get sick to the point where they need to be gone for three days. Are they expected to be well for the rest of the semester in order to skip the finals? I don’t think so. That’s unfair.”
Dr Toberman stated that he needed a way to lower the attendance policy. ”There were about twice as many absences in the fall of 2023 as there were in the fall of 2019.”
The attendance has been getting worse and worse throughout the years reaching record-high levels of absences. Something needed to be done to lower the policy so they made a reward that is to skip. One of the biggest things with this is that a lot of people are saying that Dr. Toberman made this decision himself when he really didn’t have a final say in it, he only could give his recommendation. Toberman stated that if a student believes they need special circumstances they should go into administration and they can consider it. It’s obvious that the new attendance policy isn’t perfect and it obviously wouldn’t be the first try, but it is a needed step to improve our attendance. It can always be changed for the better throughout the year and made to be more cautious of illness
