Occasionally, Palo Alto High School’s truant students with three or more cuts do not attend a mandatory Saturday School held once a month. But those students should think twice before skipping next Saturday’s. 

The Paly administration might bar truant students who skip Saturday School from attending prom, according to Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson.

The potential move may prove controversial as that Saturday, April 28, is the same day as prom. 

“It wasn’t like we said let’s put Saturday school on prom — we definitely didn’t do that,” Berkson said. “On the same hand, I don’t feel bad about it. Don’t cut; you won’t have Saturday School.”

The administration has not decided on an official course of action regarding allowing skipping students to attend prom, according to Berkson.

“Would we stop them at that point? I don’t know,” Berkson said. “How do we penalize this person from going to prom, versus this person from not going to prom? That’s the biggest issue with Saturday School right now.”

Senior Ashley Hartwell is among the students who missed a Saturday School and has been notified by the administration that she must attend on Saturday, the day of prom.

“I feel like it’s pretty unfair because if people are trying to get ready for prom then they’re not going to have enough time,” Hartwell said.

“It’s not like five hours isn’t enough time to get ready,” Berkson said. “My guess is five hours is plenty of time for someone to get ready, assuming they prepare and there are no last minute problems.”

Some students, like Hartwell, attribute their absences to forces outside of their immediate control.

“My mom didn’t call me in for my cuts,” Hartwell said. “She didn’t call me in within that time. I had doctor appointments and she didn’t call me in.”

Berkson agrees that forces outside the student’s immediate control complicate the issue of Saturday School attendance.

“My biggest concern is there are students whose parents don’t call it in and how do we penalize a kid for that,” Berkson said. “Sometimes teachers might not change an absence to a tardy, there are all sorts of logistical issues that get in the way of it being a black and white situation.”

However, Berkson does not believe that students with a vast number of cuts is necessarily worthy of a pardon.

“If a kid has 20 cuts, chances are somewhere along the line they missed a class.”

In light of students skipping it, the current Saturday School program’s effectiveness is dubious, according to Berkson.

“There are some kids who want to rebel and not get the program no matter what you do. So is it 100 percent effective? No,” Berkson said. “Is it effective in the big scheme of things? We had a 70 percent truancy rate five years ago, that went down to twenty.”

Unlike the administration, Hartwell is slightly more sure of how she will handle Saturday School on prom.

“I’d have my mom call,” Hartwell said. “If that didn’t work I guess I’d still have to go.”

Saturday School will be held April 28 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Paly’s Student Center, according to the Paly Master Calendar. Prom is from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m.