Petition created against closure of gradebook
A petition was created by two sophomores in response to the permanent closure of the online gradebook. The petition is a Google Form that has been sent around the student body on Gmail and Google Hangouts Chat.
A petition against the closure of the gradebook during the school day on Genesis, the Pascack Valley portal that students use to access their grades, has been circulating throughout the student body during the past week. As of Thursday morning, the petition, found on Google Forms, had totaled 375 signatures.
PV sophomores Ellie Schaumberger and Christian Downey created the petition before Thanksgiving break when it was announced that the gradebook would remain closed throughout the school day for the rest of the school year. This was announced in an email sent by PV Principal Tom DeMaio on Nov. 19. The petition is accessible to students on Google Forms and has been shared among them through Gmail and Google Hangouts Chat.
“When you think about it, grades are really important here,” Downey said. “You have so many people who are stressing out because they want to get the best grade possible. It’s a healthy competition, but at the same time, if we’re going to focus on grades so much, we need to be able to see them during school. If it’s school grades, it should be seen during school time.”
Downey said that about 150 sophomores, 120 freshmen, 50 seniors, and 30 to 40 juniors have signed the petition.
Downey and Schaumberger said if 600 students fill out the form, they will present the signatures to PV’s administration. PV Principal Tom DeMaio said that he will take the 600 signatures into consideration, but it does not mean that the decision to close the gradebook during school hours will be changed.
Those signing the petition can leave comments expressing their specific opinions.
“We’re going to explain to [administrators] that you said that this will be good for us and people would understand, but we’re saying otherwise,” Downey said. “We have data here.”
Downey and Schaumberger said they are considering a walkout in protest, but it depends on if the administration is willing to find a compromise. They said a possible time for the walkout would be during Pascack Period so as to not interrupt classes.
DeMaio said he believes that there is a better way to handle this situation rather than starting a petition or having a walkout, such as talking to student council representatives, writing an opinion article for The Smoke Signal, or addressing him directly.
“Though we realize many people might not be happy with a certain decision,” DeMaio said, “sometimes we have to make a decision that we understand is probably in the best interest or is in line with some of the things we’re trying to get done here. This is one of those decisions [the administration is making] to de-emphasize the stress about grades.”
