On May 21 and May 22, PHS will hold its finals for freshmen through juniors. Seniors take their finals before everyone else, and they will be practicing for graduation while freshman through juniors take their finals. Once again, students will have the opportunity to exempt their finals if they have met the requirements.

For students to be exempt from finals, they have to meet a couple of requirements. One of them is a 94% attendance rate. To have a 94% attendance rate, you must have no more than four absences (excused or unexcused) during the semester. Students can check their attendance by checking Harmony or talking to any teacher. All teachers have access to a spreadsheet that the administration maintains to track attendance. Students with a red box on the spreadsheet for a specific class period mean the administration did not approve the student for exemption based on attendance, and the teacher has to do nothing further with that student. If the box on the spreadsheet is white, the student is approved for attendance, and it is now up to the teacher to decide if the student’s grades are suitable not to take the finals. Students will not know if they are exempt until the day before finals. 

A teacher determines whether a student does not have to take the finals by requiring a course grade of 70% or higher for both nine weeks of the semester. 

“I believe it’s a reward for good attendance and grades. I think it teaches good work ethic,” said Principal Ed Wagner.

If the student is determined “exempt,” they will have a fun activity on campus to replace the final exam.