Eleven out of 21 Accolade Editorial Board members disagree with the administration’s decision to alter the schedule starting the 2024-2025 school year for the upcoming semester finals, citing that this change was introduced too late into the year, making it harder for students to adjust on such short notice. 

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

In an October site leadership meeting of academic department chairmen and chairwomen and administrators, it was decided to change the finals schedule to having zero period on the first day instead of the week prior as in the past along with sixth period, which before was scheduled for the last day of student attendance. The first day of final exam week, Dec. 17, would also end an hour later than in the past at 1:58 p.m.

According to school officials, this idea was introduced to the leadership team in a September meeting, and the members were asked to report feedback from the rest of their respective departments before the October meeting in which the final decision would be made.

Previously, the finals schedule conveniently gave two hours of final exams chronologically for periods first through sixth from Tuesday to Thursday with each day’s release time the same. 

With only one hour on Tuesday to take finals, zero period teachers often opted to spread the typically two-hour-long and have the exam be on the week before finals — which worked well and made the best out of time. 

Although assistant principal Sarah Murrietta considers this schedule a piloted one and may revert to the original depending on schoolwide feedback, the sudden alteration – just a bit over a month before the start of final exam week – proves inconvenient and unnecessary; the premise of this change was to provide a more consistent schedule for students with zero periods, and more clarity for parents about what time their student needs to reach school. However, this new format may be a point of greater confusion instead of assistance. 

“Sometimes [zero period] finals are split into two days, so clarity on what days students need to attend to complete their final was confusing [for parents],” Murrietta said. “Those were really the main factors.”

Actually, zero period teachers are supposed to tell their students to come to school at 8:30 a.m. to limit confusion alternatively to their regular time, 7:27 a.m., to show up for their first period exam that morning. Since most teachers already announce this to their students, the confusion about reporting time on the first day of finals may come from a lack of student-to-parent communication. In this case, changing the entire schedule just for better clarification does not serve as the best solution as it may likely tie into mental exhaustion for a large chunk of the student body.

If this is a genuine concern for a majority of teachers and administrators, then instead of notifying us about the change so late into the year, they should have addressed it before the school year even started. The first step to providing consistency comes through efficient communication— not a last minute email. Instead of abruptly changing the entire finals schedule and disrupting stability for students, it would be easier to send an automated phone call, email or even text message to parents reminding them of the time that their student must arrive at school. 

Although the new schedule will allegedly improve consistency during finals week, it will do so at the expense of students’ enjoyment. Previously, those without sixth periods, including some of our editorial board members, would often find satisfaction in leaving early on the last day of finals and beginning their break earlier.

However, this change will only deprive these students of the excitement of two extra hours of leaving school early on the last day. It will also serve as a disadvantage for zero period students who will be forced to take an important final exam half-asleep. A better solution would have been for the administration to ask each zero period teacher to conduct a Google Form poll to find out how zero period students feel about the change in the first day of finals.

Murrietta said around 200 students have these three starting periods as academic classes, meaning they will have to take three final exams on the first day of this three-day routine. Since this group of students accounts for 16.9% of the student population, we must consider their stance on this situation and how it may affect their mental well-being, possibly causing them to burn out and perform poorly for their upcoming days.

Instead of having the decisions made by only the teaching department and administration, it would be beneficial for student representatives to also share their opinions regarding the potential changes for the staff to consider. Actually, during the time that ex-principal Allen Whitten was here, he would consult campus groups like The Accolade, the Associated Student Body and the Student Senate before making any drastic changes. Although we are grateful for our principal coming to speak to us and keep us updated about campus-related events, notifying us about the change would be beneficial in terms of allowing administration to gain insight into students’ minds. At the end of the day, students are affected the most, and allowing them to share their voices is the best way to ensure a smooth transition to a new concept. 

Obviously, nothing can be done to prevent the implementation of this new final exam schedule. Nevertheless, we implore students and parents who don’t like it to email our school administrators, especially since Murrietta has told our reporter that she has not received any negative feedback yet. If we remain passive, then expect this trial to become a permanent fixture here. It’ll be interesting to find out how many students would want to take a zero period class in the future.

The Accolade Editorial Board is made up of the top editors and section editors on the 2024-2025 staff with the guidance of adviser Tommy Li. If you have a question about the board’s decision or an issue for the board to discuss and write about, please send an email to [email protected].