The skip-a-final for freshman, sophomores and juniors no longer exists. As for second semester seniors there is a new plan that is being put into place allowing them to keep their chance at skipping all of their finals.

Many students were coming to school sick in order to keep perfect attendance bringing illness like the H1N1 to school. “We have been directed by the health department not to offer perfect-attendance based incentives,” said Mrs. Mary Andersen, assistant principal.

There is no plan for skip-a-final for the grades below seniors for spring semester. “Skip-a-final as we know it does not exist,” said Mrs. Andersen.

There is a new plan for second semester seniors that will potentially allow them to skip their finals. Because of the imprtance of this policy to so many seniors, the administration decided to find a policy that allowed them to skip their finals. “The plan for the seniors is that skip-a-final will no longer be based on perfect attendance,” said Mrs. Andersen.

The seniors have various qualifications they must meet in order to skip their finals; some of these include having no more than three tardies per class (other than first hour where they can have six), and they cannot have more than four non-school related absences. If they will miss more school, they can appeal on a case by case basis. They must also have at least a “C” in each class. They cannot have any unexcused absences due to skips, kick outs, or leaving early without a reason. They cannot have any suspensions and they cannot have any major disciplinary referrals.

Although these are the current rules it is possible that they could change in the future. “This is the first time I have modified the skip-a-final policy, and I am open to suggestions,” said Mrs. Andersen

After seniors are accepted to college, many of them lose their interest in school and are more than happy to just not go to class. “Initially skip-a-final was about perfect attendance. I wanted to keep seniors motivated; when I took it away, many seniors lost interest in coming to school. I am trying to prevent mental health days. I want to keep seniors engaged in school,” said Mrs. Andersen.