By HiLite Staff

This school excels in many aspects, but in academics, it is particularly unmatched. Ninety percent of students passed both math and English assessments in the 2009-2010 school year, while the state average was 66.2 percent. Furthermore, 44.2 percent of the Class of ’10 passed an AP exam, while the state average that year was 12.2 percent. The Indiana Department of Education (DOE) published these results on its website, stating that Indiana exceeded the statewide goals. This same institution is responsible for the nuisance of coming back to school the Monday after prom and seniors coming back to school the day after graduation.

One might ask how high academic performance could ever excuse this public school from completing the state-mandated school year of 180 days. The two issues seem unrelated.

That is exactly the problem. The goal of any state regulation is to create benefits that would not occur ordinarily, or alternatively, prevent harm that would occur ordinarily. Admittedly, statewide curricula and testing have served Indiana schools wonderfully over the years. Certainly, an atmosphere of discipline arises from a 180-day school year, dress code and other regulations. This atmosphere is essential for low-performing schools that have not yet established high expectations for their students. But in some cases, these regulations prevent local administrations of high-performing schools across Indiana from catering to their populations using their first-hand knowledge of their school environment.

For example, Superintendent Jeff Swensson would like to create a “Greyhound Senior Semester” at this school. Seniors with enough credits to graduate with the diploma of their choosing would have the freedom to invest in college classes, internships and work during class-time. After all, seniors hardly show “senioritis” in their extra-curricular lives; only in classes that they think “don’t matter anymore” do they slack off so much. This program would make the transition to the independence and freedom of college much easier, and the only thing stopping it is the 180-day rule.

Why is this rule in existence? Last year, a memo to Indiana school superintendents from the DOE stated, “A (school) corporation will be funded for 180 days of instruction only when students are in the classroom for 180 days of instruction.” In other words, the snow days that have eliminated the flex day and extended graduation do not count as part of the 180 days of instruction. The memo also mentioned that a school that does not fulfill the 180-day requirement will be subject to a financial penalty per school day missed. Finally, it clarified that schools can no longer petition for a penalty waiver as they had in past years, stating, “Winter weather is not extraordinary.”

Indeed, snow days in Indiana are nothing new. But graduated seniors going back to high school? Extraordinary. Students going back to school the Monday after Prom? Also extraordinary. Seniors with enough credit hours lacking time for jobs and internships and other real-world experiences, left to slacking off in school and complaining about it? This is far from extraordinary, but it certainly is not right.

Nobody contests the right of the DOE to establish the custom of 180 days of schooling. It has served Indiana schools well over the years. But there are other customs, such as graduation and prom, which would be undermined at this school for the sake of the 180-day requirement. Allowing schools to petition for penalty waivers (requiring some justification, of course) would eliminate such conflicts of customs in the future. These conflicts make it seem as though the Department of Education is out of touch with the situations of local school administrations. Furthermore, allowing high-performance schools extra freedoms will provide incentive for low-performing schools to reach those outlined DOE goals mentioned at the beginning.

If the Department of Education will allow the local administration to decide that in these circumstances, 178 days of schooling is sufficient, students here will not need to demonstrate the famed optimism and politeness of Carmel High School students.