October 23, 2014 by Nolan Rabine and Michael Hellman
Michael Hellman for The Lightning Rod
Upperclassmen and teachers at Saratoga Springs High School are used to seeing an older gentleman in a chair in the B-wing, overseeing students in the hallway. This man is Ronald “Petey” Taylor, the hall monitor who oversaw student activities near the B-wing bathrooms. Following his retirement at the end of the 2013-2014 school year, changes had to be made by school administration—most notably study halls.
Study halls are condensed into larger and fewer study halls at the beginning of each year, but in 2014-2015, there are fewer study halls than in previous years.
“The main reason [for condensed study halls] is that we had some study halls with very few students in them. We had some with only six students. When I can combine a study hall, it gives me use of that teacher at another place in the building,” said Timothy Harris, the 11th grade assistant principal.
The larger study halls are influenced by the fact that many students add and drop classes at the beginning of each school year, and the class numbers are weighed differently than they were at the beginning of the year.
“[I usually do] schoolwork, and eat these delicious Nature Valley breakfast biscuits,” said Michael Kats, an English teacher, about his hall duty experiences.
James Flanders, another English teacher on hall duty said, “I’ve just been sitting out here on hall duty.”
Flanders is one of the teachers who lost their study hall when it was condensed. Both teachers knew that Taylor had retired, but they were not aware of the fact that the changes were due to the implications of the reduction in staffing. As a result of Taylor’s retirement, the lack of teachers in the hallway caused issues. Fortunately, the administration found a way to fix it.
Michael Hellman and Nolan Rabine are students in the Introduction to Journalism class.