Seniors Suffer Consequences of Skipping

In response to an unsanctioned “senior skip day” on November 3rd, some seniors will start exams on Monday, December 15th, and others Tuesday, December 16th. The seniors who skipped that day have had their exams pushed back, shortening their Christmas break by one day. Mr. Telford implemented this policy to underscore the importance of attendance and hold students accountable to the Charlotte Catholic standard.

Prior to November 3rd, there was discussion among students about a “senior skip day” on the Monday after Halloween. Mr. Telford quickly addressed the rumors in an intercom announcement and later an email to seniors and their parents. In his letter, he stated that seniors who planned on skipping would have exams pushed back a day. Their exams would begin on Tuesday, December 16th and finish Friday, December 19th, shortening their Christmas break.

In the past, it was a trend for seniors to skip the second day after Halloween because the day immediately following Halloween is All Saints Day, which is always an excused absence. Because Halloween fell on a Friday, some seniors wanted to miss an extra day of school and began talking about skipping the following Monday.

Mr. Telford was not the only one advocating for attendance. Many teachers assigned work that absent seniors could not make up. Mrs. Waldron assigned a quiz November 3rd and felt little remorse about it. She said, “The seniors are already coming off of a long weekend, and for AP classes, we need all scheduled instruction days.” Other teachers, like Mr. Panther, assigned in-class worksheets worth more points. 

Although teachers and Mr. Telford warned seniors and their parents, over 100 seniors did not come to school. He addressed this in a follow up email which confirmed the change in the exam schedule, but only for absent students. Additionally, he underscored the importance of attendance and its correlation with academic performance.

Now, seniors who skipped November 3rd must start taking their exams a day late. While the goal of this was to punish the seniors who skipped, some see the change as an unfair advantage. Senior Ann Marie Schmitz said, “The seniors who skipped school that day now just get an extra day to study for their exams. Mr. Telford said this before the skip day and most seniors saw it as an incentive to skip rather than a punishment.”

Now that these seniors will have an exam Friday, which is usually held for make-up exams, teachers have to adjust to the situation. In some classes composed of both seniors and juniors, adjusting the schedule becomes more complicated. Regardless, all teachers are following the policy Mr. Telford put in place in order to stress the importance of attendance with no exception to seniors.

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