Current San Ramon Valley Unified School District policy dictates that all seniors must have a full schedule of at least six periods in order to graduate high school.

But back in 2004, if seniors were on track for graduation, they had the option of taking five classes and leaving by lunch.

So why was this policy changed? There were a few reasons. 

The district thought that too many seniors were on a five-period schedule, and because all the teachers are staffed for a six-period schedule, this was leading to a problem with the student-teacher ratio in classrooms.

There were also financial concerns with all the missing seniors. But mainly, the district just wanted to keep seniors on campus. 

Unfortunately, this policy change has done more bad than good.

By senior year, a driven, ambitious student should have easily covered all of the necessary credits to graduate from high school, barring the compulsory four-year subjects like English.

Forcing the student to maintain a schedule of six periods is a waste of the school’s money and resources, not to mention the student’s time.

This policy forces students to fill their schedule with classes they don’t need, and frequently don’t want to take. These classes usually take the form of various electives that won’t ever serve any purpose to the student when they go out into the “real world.”

And if students are smart enough to have all the necessary credits, and therefore forced to take these irrelevant elective courses, than they are undoubtedly smart enough to realize just what a waste of time they are.

This accounts for much of the reason why senior cuts are so frequent, with every absence costing the school more and more money they simply can’t afford to lose.

The extra time one less period would free up could then be used in a productive manner by students. They could use the time to study, or finish their homework earlier. 

Simply put, seniors should have the option to have an abbreviated schedule only if they are on track for graduation. It would reduce cuts, which would save the school large amounts of money. It would preserve class space, so students who actually want to take these classes would have the option to.

And finally, it would let students go home early, potentially giving them extra time to complete their homework. 

This would enable the student to participate in additional extra-curricular activities that they normally could not have, and otherwise use this extra time in a productive, worthwhile manner.

Everybody wins. Who can argue with that?