Recent district changes require adaptability, open-mindedness, and most pertinently, patience. 2020 revealed that public health crises need more attention and respect. Even though the fresh, innovative breath of 2021 shines bright on the horizon, the student body must remember that the threat all but ceases its prominence. Meanwhile, one of the radical changes on campus left students bewildered, dumbfounded, and reeling with broody intrigue: FLEX period. This article aims to clear up any misconceptions concerning the meaning of FLEX and whether “the change” does more harm than good with this pressing issue.

Compared to Advisory, FLEX upgrades and improves everything that failed to work last year (2019-2020). FLEX effortlessly blends fun with seriousness, work with play, observation with engagement. It allows students to focus on a need improvement subject(s) to perform better academically and otherwise. Students carry more flexibility (pun intended). They choose what they want to do after the main menu of school adjourns. This luxury occurs every B-day after the sixth-period (11:50 AM-1:20 PM). However, a recent development threatens to tear this apart and throw a wedge in the student body’s ultimate plans.

The new policy makes it mandatory for students to stay on campus as the closed campus bylaw reinforces itself every day from this day onward. Accordingly, students must say goodbye to leaving the site whenever they feel like it, making it next to impossible to travel in a case of emergency or to go to order lunch to dine out in their vehicles. Students find themselves flustered by this district decision, especially if they participate in Senior Partial Day, a new rule that enables seniors with enough credits to take as many or as little courses as they please for the remainder of this school year. Plus, ever since seniors technically carry the right to leave campus when they complete their day, this decision comes across as vague, hypocritical, and ineffective.

Provided that this decision DOES cut down on unsolicited, unethical activity that perpetuates any unsupervised student activity, another issue shrouds FLEX other than the lack of an open campus: FLEX flexed. Correct! FLEX flex-ed to the fourth-period. Consequently, the fourth-period flex-ed to the FLEX as the sixth-period flex-ed to precede the new fourth. This flex deeply, unnecessarily confuses the student body and puts more stress on the district. Students (and teachers) deserve fewer problems, more solutions, and this undermines that probability significantly. Above all, moving FLEX within the B-day feels quite authoritarian, undemocratic, and merely reinforces the new guidelines provided further.

In the end, despite the popular student body vote, the decision lies in the hands of the district. However, revisiting this decision for future reference only helps to benefit students. Telling students that leaving campus goes against the new guidelines already proves quite problematic and unsuccessful. It seems like the authority here flexed its muscles a bit too much. Without a doubt, this change prompts students to seek out other alternatives to retain their rights and personal freedom. Everyone flexes their muscles. Someone needed to get this off their FLEX!