We could say a hundred times that COVID has changed the world for the worse. But we already know that and are tired of hearing and reading about it. 

It’s time for a somewhat “positive” thing COVID has brought us. For the 2021-2022 school year, Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools has taken attendance out of the picture for exam exemptions because of COVID. To read more about the details of this policy change, check out Rooster Editor-in-Chief  Anna Marie Hunt’s article. 

The Rooster staff is very thankful for this temporary change. While it is not permanent, it takes a lot of stress off of students for the time being. As students, the strictness on attendance is stressful because if a student has an A in a class, then they are obviously doing fine and staying on top of their work. We don’t understand why attendance has been such a big factor in exam exemptions.

This was a wise decision made by the school board in order to keep everyone safe. If attendance was still a factor, many kids would still come to school even if they didn’t feel well, just to meet the attendance criteria for exemptions, which puts everyone at risk.

The school cannot be telling us to stay home if we feel sick while also telling us to come to school in order to be eligible for exemption. 

“I’m glad that the policy has changed because otherwise I would have had to take exams because of my quarantine,” said sophomore and Rooster Reporter Makena Moore. 

This change takes off a lot of stress for students, worrying about missing a few days here and there for sickness or any other things life throws at us. 

“I think people are so concerned about missing school for the exemptions that they don’t focus on their own health,” said junior Henry Bowen, News and Opinions Editor.

Soak it in while you can, folks. Instructional Assistant Principal Brent Atkinson has stated that this policy change is not permanent, and we will most likely revert to the normal policy as COVID cases go down. But if for some reason COVID cases are still high and spreading in the future, this modified policy could remain.

The other side of this policy change is not so positive, for the teachers at least. Attendance not being counted means a lot more students missing classes. It was obvious that something was up when half the student parking lot was empty the week after the announcement of this policy change. 

While this was obviously not the intention of this policy change, it is something that can’t necessarily be avoided.  We just have to trust students to not take advantage of the system. 

Honestly, it is sometimes quite tempting to skip class on days when you’re just not feeling it. But we have to remember the purpose of this change and not take advantage of the school board for helping us out.

“I think the exam policy should stay like this forever,” said Tsion Saunders, Rooster Sports Editor.