Across campus, teachers, administration and students alike share frustrations about the detention policy.
Last year and a part of this year, Saturday school was a punishment for those who did not serve their detentions, but there is no longer enough money. Saturday school means hiring a teacher and a campus security monitor, which is no longer possible.
However, Assistant Principal Gamal Salama said the current detention policy is helping to enforce campus rules, no matter how detrimental to education it may seem, according to its critics.
In fact, since the beginning of the year, he said, there have been fewer dress code violations and tardies. In the past month, 174 students have been tardy and 106 have been cited for not bringing their IDs to school, which, compared to the beginning of the year, is much less.
“I wish we had Saturday school, but we don’t have the funds,” he said. “The numbers of detentions are going down. The only problem is students who don’t serve their detention get in-school suspension.”
Because of the lack of funding, students are getting pulled out of their classes, which puts stress on teachers as well as students.
Julie Backster, math teacher, said that students who are struggling in algebra get pulled out the most. They often fall behind and cannot keep up with the lessons, especially if they miss a two-hour block period.
“It would be nice if I knew ahead of time and especially if it’s a more crucial learning time,” she said. “I would prefer they serve (detention) in classes where they aren’t struggling.”
Senior Edgar Perez, upon receiving ISS, knew that he couldn’t miss calculus, so he asked Assistant Principal Youlin Aissa if he could attend class, and make it up another day. And upon serving it the next day, he was again pulled out of class to make up the detention when he had already done so.
“They said I didn’t serve it so they took me out again and I was forced to serve it twice,” he said.
Salvador Pasillas, a junior, refers to the school system as “weak” after he was forced to serve two days after he was pulled out by Kendra Bruno, a substitute teacher for his Advanced Placement English course. Following this, he put a sign on the door of M1 saying that detention was cancelled until Jan. 32. He refers to this as an “action against the system.” Rather than a prank, he said that it is a form of resistance.
“How are we going to change the system if we don’t start now?” he said. “I cannot change the world if I don’t start with the struggles I am facing now.”
Though students and teachers are uneasy about these policies, Salama says that there is only one other way to change them without adding in Saturday school.
“Our advice—don’t break the rules.”
