Position statement: Over the past two school years, the administrators of our school have worked closely with teachers and students to assist in easing daily inconveniences and helping the student body succeed. With a testing office in the works, this praise must be emphasized.

Over the past two school years, our administrators have proudly implemented a 25 minute “study hall for all”. They then worked closely with teachers to figure out what works and doesn’t work in the support rooms that have been slowly popping up for every subject, starting last year with math and expanding even now—the science support room opened the Monday after spring break.

Now, the administrators are crafting another pilot program that aims to further increase the flow and ease of student and faculty life at Lyons Township High School.

We have all been in a situation that goes something like this: you miss a test in one of your many classes. You were sick. You had a field trip that took you out out of school. You went on vacation a day early. You went on a college visit. You know you would be missing a test, but there’s nothing you can do. You have a conflict that is keeping you out of school, and you resign to prepare to take it for another day.

We, the student body at Lyons Township High School, are expected to email our teachers and schedule a time and place to make up the test. On top of studying for the exam itself, you must find a time in the day where both of you are available, or inconvenience both yourself and the educator by planning a time before or after school to make up the test. The only alternative is to go into the hall and take the test in an unsuitable environment, which comes with the additional difficulty of missing material for the next unit, putting the individual even further behind than they already are.

Some teachers live far from school or have young children at home that makes staying after school difficult, yet teachers have been expected for years to administer tests and in-class essays unpaid, outside of school hours, at the behest of usually an individual student. Some students have sports, clubs, jobs or younger siblings that make this difficult.

Starting promptly after spring break 2017 with the plan to implement the program school-wide during the 2017-2018 school year, a testing support office has been available for makeup tests. Beginning before and after school and expanding based on the feedback received, the pilot program will be limited to 10 makeup testers per session and may be limited to certain subjects at first, Kevin Brown, Associate Principal of North Campus since 2009 said. We must praise the administrators for beginning this process and working so closely with teachers and students to figure out what works and what does not.