Senior privilege allows seniors at Cherry Hill High School East who have a study hall for the first or last period of the day to arrive at school late or leave school early. In order for this to be granted, a parent or guardian must apply for senior privilege via the Genesis Parent Portal. 

Many seniors take advantage of this opportunity to get extra sleep in the morning or go home early to do homework from the comfort of their own home. For class periods with substitute teachers, this process should be the same, allowing seniors to complete substitute work outside of the building. 

Since COVID-19, teachers have been able to use Google Classroom to update their students on work remotely. This convenience is still used today when teachers post assignments for their students ahead of time when they have a planned absence. Substitute teachers at East don’t teach the class when the main teacher is out. Rather, they take attendance, ensure that students have work to do and maintain order in the classroom. Thus, there is no difference between a student doing their work from home or doing it independently in class.

Work left by teachers is often independent assignments, such as a webquest or reading assignment, which can be completed outside of class just as easily as in class. Seniors should be able to use their senior privilege in these classes. Even if a senior abuses this and does not complete the work, it is no different than if they stayed in school and did not do their work. If the teacher comes back and sees the unfinished assignment, there would be no difference between if it wasn’t completed in the building or from outside of it. 

Even when the absent assignment is a recorded lesson, it becomes the students’ responsibility to watch and take notes from the video. That is the only factor that the absent teachers should have to worry about, not where the student completed the assignment. A senior should be able to stay in the building if they want to complete the assignment in a classroom, but they should be allowed to go home and do the work outside of the building.

Students are ineligible for senior privilege if their parent, guardian or school administrator revokes it, if they are not passing their current marking period classes or if they have more than three lates to their second period. Only students who are eligible for senior privilege should be able to use their senior privilege in classes with substitute teachers. If seniors’ grades drop because they are not doing the work that their teacher left for them, they will become ineligible for senior privilege and will be unable to use it for classes with substitute teachers. 

If a teacher has a planned absence, work should be assigned via Google Classroom for seniors to be able to use their senior privilege during that class to complete the assigned work outside of East.