One of the best times of the year for students is when October rolls around and they get to look forward to football games, fall weather, halloween, and homecoming. Unfortunately, for many students this year, homecoming is not going to be an option.
At Papillion Lavista High School, there has been a new policy added called the Good Standing policy. In order for students to attend homecoming they must be in good standing meaning, they must have less than ten tardies, have not missed four full days of school, and must be passing four classes. If students don’t meet those requirements, they are not allowed to purchase a homecoming ticket.
“I don’t think this is reasonable,” Sophomore Ashlyn Coozennoy said. “There’s always so many people in the halls and bathrooms, it’s hard to be on time to class every single day.”
There is definitely a mix of opinions on the good standing policy. Some feel as if the standards are too challenging to meet, and others think they’re pretty simple.
“I think it’s fair for the most part, if you get to school, get to class and do your work you’ll be fine” said Freshman Nataleigh Veia.
The new policy’s intentions are to make students more motivated to do better in school, but not everyone agrees that this is the way to do so.
“I think this is just a lot of added stress. I understand passing classes is important but many students are genuinely trying, yet still struggling, so they shouldn’t be punished for that” Coozennoy said.
A good point some students made is that the amount of absences students have, may not be in their control at times. They feel that there should be more flexibility when it comes to the amount of days that can be missed.
“ Kids don’t always choose to miss school, they sometimes get sick, or have to be at things like funerals,” said Veia. “They’re not missing on purpose a lot of times, so having only four days to miss might not be that easy.”
Although some students may feel that the Good Standing policy is not the right approach and should be more flexible, they do understand the reason for it. It has the right intentions for everyone and will hopefully reflect good results. As for next year, students will be interested to see if any changes get made to the Good Standing policy.