Running of the Seniors

by Jessica Cabrera, highlights, Opinion, March 2009

I’ve never seen such disappointed faces, so many seniors in bathing suits sitting in a cold auditorium. Considered a tradition by students—granted, not as widely accepted or encouraged as singing the alma mater (which not many people seem to enjoy, anyway)—skipping school on FCAT days is considered a rite of passage.

“Like any other senior activity, people look forward to this for years. They want to go to the beach with people [they’ve] known for four years,” Oliver Torres, Student Council President and senior, said.

This is a misconception; seniors who readily believed that they were allowed to leave school during FCAT days were wrong. Seventeen and eighteen-year-old logic says that escaping to the beach beats watching 7 Pounds of crap for four hours, but skipping is still punishable and the school is not allowed to condone this behavior.

But after this year’s mad dash to the parking lot, that idea is bound to be obliterated for future classes. As the underclassmen made their way to their designated FCAT rooms, upperclassmen could be seen jogging towards the student parking lot. The prospect of success seemed sweet until the looming shadows of administrators crept around the corner. The parking lot gates were locked and seniors were told to make their way to the auditorium where they were confined until testing was complete.     

“I feel like a caged animal that needs to be let out. I think it’s a rite of passage,” Chris Mederos, senior, said after being funneled into the auditorium by administrators.

And then the wave of yellow passes drowned the auditorium. All day, parents were called by frustrated seniors, who didn’t plan to stay in school anyway, to sign them out of school early.

Although the measures taken by the administration may seem drastic, and the consequences of their actions resulted in a bit of chaos, the administration did nothing more than their job.

“I understand that students feel it is worthless to be at school on FCAT days, but letting them leave creates liability that the school can’t afford,” Katherine Landsea, AP European History teacher, said. “I also have a problem with students leaving without a parent’s consent. Parents are under the misconception that kids are at school when they’re not.”

When students are marked present, they are the school’s responsibility. If something were to happen to them outside of school, the school can be held accountable.

Students disagreed and felt the administration should have been more understanding.  

“I understand that they can’t let us out but it’s still ridiculous how they’re treating us. If we did our job in passing the FCAT, we should be let out. We’re students, not animals,” Kritzia Lopez, senior, said.

Whether or not we as students understand the dangers and potential consequences is not the school’s concern. The administration must keep all students that are marked present on campus to avoid legal action, and realistically there are potential dangers.

“This is when the most reckless accidents occur. Kids get in trouble when they could have stayed and enjoyed a movie with their friends,” Marguerite De Paola, senior class sponsor and English teacher, said. “I understand the parents’ concerns because there have been so many accidents.”

But Lopez makes a great point: those upperclassmen in the auditorium had already passed the FCAT. And, because attendance is not taken in the auditorium, there was no incentive to stay. It is not a surprise that after signing in to first and second period, seniors sought an escape route.

Other schools, such as Southridge, planned a Take Your Child to Work Day for all upperclassmen who passed the FCAT to avoid students’ griping and parents’ concerns.

“For Wednesday and Thursday [the administration] gave juniors and seniors who passed the FCAT forms for a Take Your Child to Work Day activity. We just had to fill it out and get a copy of our parents’ license as proof of signature,” Carla Garcia, senior at Southridge, said.

        Many faculty members interviewed agreed with this idea.

“There should be a designed ft for seniors that have passed, parents approve, similar to take your child to work day,” Scott Nelson, AP and IB Psychology teacher, said. “[Because] the students who were here—especially the seniors who were in the auditorium—gave the impression that they were being punished for passing the FCAT.”

In doing so, the school would meet the attendance requirement for the FCAT, students wouldn’t have to risk skipping after having signed in, the school could not be held accountable in any way, and upperclassmen could rejoice in a beach day.

Another option would be to hold a Senior Field Day, which would serve as an incentive for students to attend and remain in school.

“We were going to do something fun [this year], but it wouldn’t have worked. We can only do what we can. Like any activity, you plan it but when it comes down to time, we tend to do what’s the easiest because there’s so much to do,” De Paola said.

It should be noted that the senior class provided bagels and hot chocolate on Wednesday and allowed the sale of Cuban toast on Thursday.

“I researched the best movies and got whatever I could—the new releases. So we tried to make it the best... We did the hot chocolate and bagels, which has never been done before. We tried to make it as enjoyable,” De Paola said.

When sought out for comments, administrators were unavailable.

I can understand the parents’ concern b/c this is when the weather’s really nice and it becomes skip day for seniors but this is when the most reckless accidents occur.. kids get in trouble when they could have stayed and enjoyed a movie with their friends.. I understand the parents’ concerns b/c there have been so many accidents.. These are the three days that they drive their cars or they’ll throw themselves off the pier—Idk if they do that… I get the students also.. That they would love to keep that tradition of the three FCAT skip days.. Now would I want my child to be in school? IDk, ‘cause I wasn’t in school the last three days.. I had a good time but I was so nervous that I was on hyper alert but anything could have… De Paola Coral Way Carvel Improv Just The Funny Omar Cancio did the improv classes We were going to do something fun..  But it wouldn’t have worked.. We can only do what we can.. Like any activity, you plan it but when it comes down to time, we tend to do what’s the easiest because there’s so much to do.. We’d love to, next year, I’m sure, the sponsor can come up with other things.. I researched the best movies and got whatever I could—the new releases. So we tried to make it the best.. We did the hot chocolate. Try to make it as enjoyable.