Wayne Hills students get to leave campus during their study halls with permission from their parents, but at Wayne Valley, the same opportunity is not given. When this information was brought to the attention of Wayne Valley, shock and angry reactions were elicited. Currently, seniors can only leave school for the lunch period. Within the same district, rules are often the same. However, that is not the case here.
This information was brought to attention when Wayne Hills student, Siena Shuster, explained how she, and all seniors, got to leave school in the middle of the day, and sometimes if her study hall was last block she even got to end her school day early. “All I have to do is fill out a paper, write the period I’m leaving, the date, and put a parent’s phone number with their signature,” Shuster claims. She also discussed how this benefited her ability to get work done giving her more time before after school sports or work.
The freedom of leaving study hall may raise concerns to some faculty or parents about whether or not students will return to school, but Shuster reported, “I have not heard any teachers complain about people being late or absent after their study hall.” At Wayne Hills, the majority of the seniors take this opportunity to leave. This makes study hall less crowded and the packed parking lots moves more efficiently.
When faculty was asked if they knew about this situation the same answer was given, “I had no clue about this and I’m not sure why it’s different.” Seniors at Wayne Valley were also not aware of this and when asked about how they felt that exclaimed that it was, “not fair at all,” and they stated, “I want to leave study hall if they can.” Wayne Valley senior, Gianna Mortman, did not take this information lightly when she learned of these circumstances. She believes that leaving study hall would allow her to, “be more productive because being home and in a comfortable environment allows for better work conditions.”
Currently the study hall situation for Wayne Valley students is not changing but could be brought up again and resolved for future students. As for Wayne Hills, seniors will continue to be allowed to leave study hall as long as they follow the correct procedure.
