A new administrator-in-training, hired to help with attendance and facilities issues at Paly, is suggesting a possible tightened attendance policy for students second semester.
Jerry Berkson is the man behind Room 5 1/2, already infamous for being the room where students are sent when they are in danger of being dropped from a class.
Currently, students are not punished for cuts until their fifth, when they get dropped from the class. Berkson plans to change this.
"I’d like to have a consequence before the fourth [cut]," Berkson said.
Saturday school and after-school detention are two options that the administration is considering as possible consequences to make up for missed class time, according to Berkson.
"[Saturday School] in the works," Berkson said. "Second semester there will be some changes."
Speaking to the Web Journalism class last week, Berkson said students who get in the habit of cutting class now will face even bigger problems when they are on their own and are no longer forced to go to class.
"It’s going to be a lot tougher when you go to college," Berkson said.
Berkson draws multiple parallels between the "real world" and high school to explain why attendance is important. He stresses that after high school one can no longer miss work five days before being fired.
"You need to be on time," Berkson said. "There are no warning bells."
In the past, Paly has had a significant problem with students cutting class. According to a May 26, 2005, Verde article, there were 1,024 more cuts in the 04-05 school year than in that of 03-04.