The new school semester brought many changes to policies at PHS.

Most recently, administration implemented a revised attendance policy, along with a Punctuality Ball and donuts every Friday, to promote increased presence and reinforce timeliness.

However, the Booster staff doesn’t see the need to incentivize education.

It’s commendable that administration is actively working to improve the environment at PHS. We understand their motive, but we don’t think they considered the long-term repercussions of such an undertaking. Providing students with donuts and cash prizes are unsustainable and unhealthy practices. If we set the precedent that simply being at school deserves a reward, we lower the expectations for students to be actively engaged in the classroom. Administrators and students alike need to consider the longevity of these programs.

Students also need to foster a culture of coming to school to learn on their own. Trust us, we understand it can be difficult to get out of bed in the morning, and sometimes it’s nice to be rewarded for doing the right thing. But in this case, getting to class on time to receive an education should be motivation enough.

Money for these programs could be put to better use, such as paying outstanding balances in lunch accounts. With lunch debt increasing for some students, we as a staff are curious as to why the funds for these incentives are not reallocated to provide a larger student population with a quality lunch.

As the new year gets underway, we urge administration to shift their focus to students and their lunch debts. Kids in need should come first.