Good grades get reward

OXFORD HILLS — “We’ll be sending a lot of kids off at the end of the year ... it’s going to be on them ... if they succeed or not,” says Ted Moccia, principal of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School (OHCHS).

Moccia is talking about the way some kids use their senior privileges to come to school late or leave early. Senior privileges are a set of allowances that students at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School are eligible for when they become seniors.

In order for a senior to be eligible for senior privileges, they must fill out a form so they can receive a card stating they have them. Also, they must have a grade-point average of at least 85 and meet certain behavioral requirements, as well as have a passing grade in all their classes.

Senior privileges must be reinstated every three weeks just like any other eligibility.

Assuming they have a car and can get themselves to school, seniors may use these privileges to sleep in or leave early if they have a study hall at the beginning or end of the day. Or they can leave during their lunch period to eat somewhere else.

The idea behind senior privileges is to teach students responsibility in preparation for life after high school.

In December of 2006, Moccia presented the idea of “junior privileges” to the school board. It would have allowed the same privileges to juniors in their second semester if they met the grade requirements.

The school board shot it down, because many of them thought that if juniors in high school had too much free time, then the school must be doing something wrong. A lot of them also opposed the 130 extra students that would be roaming around town during their free time.

Some of the board members are even against senior privileges, saying they encourage time away from school.

Some seniors at OHCHS have voiced their opinions about the privileges, saying that the required GPA is too high and that all seniors should have them as long as they have a study hall or free period.

“I think we [seniors] should be able to leave during a study hall or lunch whether we have senior privileges or not,” says Guy McAlister IV, a senior at OHCHS.

The reason for the above-average GPA, according to Moccia, is to make sure the seniors who are getting the privileges are responsible enough to have them, because they don’t want to give them to students who are just going to abuse them.