Haley Randich ‘14
Staff Writer
On Nov. 1st, the hallways of Staples were considerably less congested as seniors spent the day partying with friends, milling around town, or snoozing at home, common recreations practiced during the traditional Senior Skip Day.
The teachers, however, were at school, facing empty desks.
The custom of senior skipping is not new to Staples, and every year there is typically a day or more devoted to the practice of ditching class with an excused absence. But for the teachers whose job it is to teach these students, senior skip day means partially filled classrooms and according to many, inconvenience.
“I’m not upset,” said Joseph Barahona, a Spanish teacher, “but I do realize that it is one less day of instruction, and when you combine that with snow days, it puts a little stress on teachers to reach their curriculum goals.”
Barahona, who lost 11 out of 13 seniors in his class, did not continue with his plans for the day, and postponed the day’s lesson so as to include his many missing students in the new material.
Barahona mentioned that hindering events like these cause the class to have to rush to catch up with the curriculum, and put stress on the students.
“Then some of them complain that things are moving to fast,” he said.
Michael Aitkenhead, who teaches Environmental Sciences, was another teacher affected by the epidemic of senior absence. He lost about a quarter of his students in each of his classes, which didn’t stop him from teaching.
“The students who skipped are responsible for what they missed, obviously,” he said.
While Aitkenhead says he can understand seniors putting aside a day each year to skip school, even though he doesn’t condone it, he does not approve of the frequency of these planned sick days.
“I can see there being a single senior skip day over the course of the year,” he said, “However it seems like recently there are now two, three or four and that is a bit ridiculous.”
Principal John Dodig expressed his frustration with the senior skip day phenomenon, and while according to him students with good attendance will feel little if any retribution from skipping on Nov. 1st, students who accumulate absences and have to appeal for credit will have the absence on senior skip day held against them.
“After all, that student would be pleading with teachers and administrators for consideration while, at the same time, flaunting an absence in their face. Definitely not a good move,” Dodig said.
In addition, students with unexcused absences on senior skip day who missed presentations, tests or quizzes have no right to make up their assessment.
Dodig concluded that the collective skip was a “very selfish act” that hindered the teachers, who felt compelled to catch their students up to help them succeed.
“The day places undo stress and a burden upon our very talented, hard-working, dedicated teachers,” he said.
