Update 4/15: 376 students skipped on Senior Skip Day, which was April 12, 2013. According to Jane Clapp, out of the 376, 282 students were absent all day, 31 for half of the day, and 61 absent for at least one class. She estimates that there were approximately 2 1/2 times as many absent as on a regular school day. A survey was taken of 31 seniors two days before Senior Skip Day, April 12, 2013. Nineteen of those seniors stated that they were not coming to school, eight of those seniors said that they hadn’t decided yet whether or not they would come to school, and four of those seniors said that they were coming to school.
When asked what the “skipping” seniors were going to do on Senior Skip Day, most replied that they were going to get ready for prom, which occurs on the following day. Some other responses included: sleeping, going to the zoo, working on schoolwork, and relaxing at home.
The seniors that have not decided whether or not to skip and the seniors who will not be skipping said that they were worried about attendance problems, had important classes that they couldn’t skip, or were unable to convince parents to allow them to skip.
When asked, Mr. Marsh stated that “[senior skip day] has a negative impact on the student body as a whole because more than seniors skip.” Ms. Lee added that “it is a safety and security concern” for students in bulk to skip on this day. The school must follow the standard attendance policy so any absences will be counted but there are no other punishments for students that do not come.
Ms. Lee suggested that, instead of having a Senior Skip Day, seniors could organize a service activity or have a senior school beautification day, for which they could be excused to do. She said that this idea is something to think about for the following year.
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