Up until Hurricanes Helene and Milton separately blew through St. Petersburg and caused the
cancellation of two school weeks in the fall 2024 semester, Green Devils with all As or Bs and
fewer than five absences could have counted on one thing – the opportunity to exempt
themselves from taking certain midterms or final exams, excluding AP tests.

But with the two hurricanes leading to the outright cancellation of midterms, and the
administration so far have been silent on what that may mean for finals, students are wondering
just what exams in May may look like.

Mya Berglund (9) said she thinks that students should have the option to exempt final exams,
despite the cancellation of midterms.

“We had a lot of testing throughout the school year anyways, so it would be odd if it was
changed all of a sudden,” said Berglund (9).

IB freshman Aleksandra Jalazo (9) thinks the district, thinking about the need to report out on
student scholastic performance, could change the rules a little, limiting the number of absences
a student can have and still be eligible to exempt finals.

“If we are able to exempt finals, then everybody with less than five absences would, and the test
scores that the district needs would not occur,” said Jalazo (9).

Cole Barnes (10) and Valerie Mai (10), both IB sophomores, wonder what a decision about the
possible exemption of some finals will do to the IB testing schedule. IB seniors, for example,
don’t take finals on the same schedule as everyone else in school, but still have to take the
standard IB finals at the end of the year, as well as midterms. As for the rest of the students in
the IB program – teachers usually make available several time periods when their final can be
taken, giving students the option to curate a final exam schedule that will work best for them.

“It is definitely more difficult to keep track of a rigid testing schedule, but it allows much more
freedom,” said Barnes (10). He added that having the flexibility to opt out of some finals can
help reduce exam stress.

Mai is already convinced that the cancellation of midterms means students having no choice but
taking all finals at the end of the year. They stressed that the testing schedule could be more
challenging than ever, if they have to balance AP exams and all of their other regular finals.

Natalia Gaudino (11) believes that the whole exam exemption system should be redone,
eliminating attendance criteria and allowing students with As and Bs to exempt finals regardless
of how often they missed class.

“Absences have nothing to do with your grade in the class, so why should it affect your eligibility
to exempt tests?” said Gaudino (11).

Then there are students like Savannah Walker (12), a senior who takes early college classes at
St. Petersburg College and wasn’t allowed to simply skip midterms due to the two hurricanes
and isn’t banking on any type of exam exemption policy for her classmates at SPHS.

Principal Darlene Lebo, in her weekly communications with students and their families, hasn’t
shed any light on what this year’s final exams may look like.