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Teens learn finality of exams
By SARAH SCHWEITZER © St. Petersburg Times, published January 31, 2001 TAMPA -- Hope springs eternal, at least when 50 high school students intent on waiving dreaded final exams gather before School Board members to make their case. For large chunks of a two-hour meeting Tuesday, the students poked, queried and prodded board members about the possibility of loosening requirements for exam exemptions. With each spin at the argument, they met with resistance. "You ain't there, you ain't there," offered board member Glenn Barrington in one of the bluntest rebuttals to the queries, many of which focused on why a student is counted absent when he or she misses school for a family funeral. The exam exemption colloquy came during Hillsborough's annual student forum, where student representatives from 19 high schools gather to offer their thoughts on the district's state of affairs. Although questions at times veered into the perennially favorite gripe -- cafeteria food -- others dealt with teacher shortages and school overcrowding, topics board members and Superintendent Earl Lennard leapt to answer, obviously grateful to be talking about the five-year building plan rather than defining what qualifies shorts as too short (a later question left unanswered by board members). But far and away the hot topic of the day was exam exemptions. Under current school district policy, high school students with at least a C average may be eligible for exam exemptions if their attendance is good. Zero absences during a semester earns three exam exemptions, no more than three absences earns two exam exemptions, and no more than four absences earns one exam exemption, with some exceptions. "A student shouldn't lose the exam exemption in the case of a family tragedy," argued Kendall Wacaser of Durant High School at the beginning of the forum. School Board member Candy Olson offered little hope of a change in policy. "If you have to go to a funeral, it's a tough choice," she said. "But we want you in school, so there have to be consequences if you are not." Some students' ideas met with a better reception. Board members said they would explore the idea of adding an extra class period to the high school day. Board member Carolyn Bricklemyer offered enthusiastic support for alternatives to suspension for students who have behavior problems in just one class. "I'm intrigued," Bricklemyer said of the possibility of arranging for peer mediation to reconcile differences between a student and teacher. Barrington, though, was less bullish on the idea. "If you have a problem in a class, behave," he said. "If you have a teacher that you don't like, it just might be that the teacher doesn't like you."
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From the Times |
