This year, Fort Lee High School has replaced midterms and finals with quarterly testing. Instead of taking two tests - one for each semester - students are now taking four - one for each marking period. This decision was made without any consultation with the students, and for the most part, the student body has been left in the dark throughout the decision making process. It's come to many students' attention that a previously granted "senior privilege" has also been removed. Initially, if a senior did well in a class and received an A during all four marking periods, he or she could be excused from taking a final for that class. A senior could be exempt from a maximum of two finals. Revoking this privilege is upsetting for a few reasons.

Many seniors used this privilege as part of their motivation for keeping their grades up after getting into college. It's very easy for many seniors to slack off after getting accepted into college. However, if seniors are rewarded by being exempted from certain finals, they'll retain an incentive to continue working diligently. Additionally, a large part of the senior class has already taken AP or IB exams for their classes, which tested them on everything they've learned during the year, making the final quarterly exam, which was designed to see if students remembered what they learned throughout the marking period, redundant and a waste of class time.

Taking away this previously granted privilege will do more harm than good. The student body believes that the Board of Education should consider reinstating this previously overlooked privilege.