On Friday, Jan. 26, there were 203 kiosk tardies, for which a pass is printed from the machine in the main office, according to the attendance receptionist Lauren Davis. This stark number isn’t just a product of students’ faults but rather the attendance privileges that have instilled a sense of indifference about showing up to school punctually or even showing up at all.
The attendance policies at SHS are set up to give privileges to those who deserve them, but they are negatively impacting all students.

Unassigned periods seem like a great opportunity that allows for more flexibility and freedom, including leaving school to get lunch, possibly being able to sleep in during a first period unassigned and having work time that isn’t just restricted to the study hall room. But so many students don’t utilize this privilege in a responsible way.

One reason is the ease of approval for unassigned. In the email from Assistant Principal Matthew Weimer about second semester unassigned, the requirements for approval are vaguely defined.
Weimer says, “We will still be evaluating your discipline, GPA, current grades and attendance history,” about how it will be decided who is approved. Similarly, students who were granted unassigned in the first semester did not have to reapply this semester like in previous years. This hazy definition of who will be approved makes it so that there are no goals to work toward in the future. The S.T.A.R.S. program has a clear cut off of a 4.0 GPA, and many students take this honor to heart because of how the parameters lay out a clear goal to reach.

When people are approved for unassigned, there is an even further issue in the amount of times they can leave school. Many students have multiple study halls, enabling them to have even less incentives to come to school at all. The issue of school spirit can also be attributed in part to how seniors are often not in the building. No group of students is more likely to understand the value of school spirit than the seniors, yet they are absent from school events so often that there is no one to set the example.

Freedoms like this aren’t just for seniors though. In the study hall room, there is a sign-out sheet at the front that allows students to go to another teacher’s room if they have checked with them first. Students can also request to become student assistants for teachers during their study hall. The opportunity to be in different parts of the building is not a bad thing. But the way students are given so much freedom is killing motivation to use this resource time effectively. In order to fix this issue, unassigned requirements should be taken more seriously and there should be more expected of seniors. Attending school shouldn’t feel optional.