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Last year, the chaos during flex caused the NS administration to reevaluate how they wanted flex to run.
An issue with the old flex policy was that people wouldn’t use the time given wisely or use it for its intended purpose. The administration thought that getting rid of flex entirely was the solution. After brainstorming, they saw new flex potential and wanted to have a way for teachers to keep track of students and ensure their ability to learn, ultimately leading to the current policy; signing up for a class every day using the Securely program.
“We honestly feel like giving students that time is a good thing for them to be able to catch up on assignments, but we also feel that teachers being aware of where students are at and assigning them is a valuable thing,” instructional coach Dax Higgins said. “But also motivationally, it gives students the opportunity if they stay caught up on everything. We want to reward them too and give them some time to do whatever they felt was most important for them at that time.”
To schedule a flex period, students can access the Securely app through ClassLink. There, they can select a flex period from a variety of different classes and activities. The classes are only open to choose freely from before 8:15 that morning, and if not, students will be automatically assigned to a class. Even if a student has signed up for a certain class, teachers can assign them into their flex for them to get help. Additionally, if a student performs poorly on end-of-quarter tests, they will be assigned to the class in which they struggled for the rest of the next quarter.
According to a recent NS Times survey, 63 percent of the NS student body does not like the changes made to flex and 57 percent believe that they won’t receive additional help from the changes.
While some are grateful that flex is still in practice, others wish it had just been gone and done with.
“I think in its current state, I would prefer that [flex] wasn’t there,” senior Brogan Lucas said. “Flex now is less helpful than it was, especially just in being assigned to a room and receiving attendance points if you’re not there.”
One thing that students don’t like about the policy change is that an unexcused absence from it gives an automatic truant, 3.5 points, while missing a regular class gives one point.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s harsh since the school calls it a class. They have the right to call that a sluff because it is a sluff,” senior Anderson Simmer said.
Administration doesn’t believe that the new policy is harsh, as their intent is just to help students in any way they can.
“If we continue to follow up on it and we’re intentional, it will absolutely help students,” Higgins said.
Ultimately, the administration cannot force students to be motivated and be productive, the students have to follow up on their end.
“[Students] academics aren’t necessarily their priority in life,” junior Wyatt Bills said. “And that’s fine. Your academics don’t have to mean everything to you, but I think that rather than treating school like a prison that you have to come to every day, make something of it.”
Flex is an instructional period, and it’s up to the students to be responsible and use that seemingly short time for their benefit.
“It might only be 25 minutes, but that 25 minutes is so invaluable for so many different things for student organizations, and for students who genuinely do struggle in school,” Bills said
The new flex schedule is seen by many in the student body as an inconvenience, but ultimately it is the decision the administration made to make life easier for the students.
“We just want to do what’s best for students,” Higgins said. “We want them all to succeed and we want them to recognize that we also believe in them. That’s why we offer these other fun things, you just got to go and do your part.”
