The number of seniors who have gone to a shortened day schedule during second semester has increased for the third year in a row.

When seniors were first allowed to have a shortened day in the 2010-2011 school year, 15 out of 251 seniors had a shortened day schedule. In the 2011-2012 school year, that number increased to 47 seniors out of 224, and this year the number has risen to 77 out of 270 seniors.

This amounts to about 6 percent of the senior class in the first year, 21 percent of the senior class in the second year and 29 percent of the senior class this year.

Students who wish to have a shortened day must have passing grades and no disciplinary issues. They must fill out an application, complete with a parent signature that then needs to be approved by school and district administration. Any student participating in events sponsored by KSHSAA must be enrolled in five classes, excluding seminar and teacher’s aide, and the classes they are taking on a given day must be consecutive. Counselor Patricia Chandler said most students come to school in the morning and then leave for the afternoon. The shortened day option is only available for seniors during second semester.

Chandler said the two biggest reasons students are going to a shortened day schedule are for work and for taking classes at Johnson County Community College.

“We were seeing that seniors didn’t have a lot of choices of electives they could take,” Chandler said. “We also had students who were excelling in their jobs outside of school. I’ve had students get promoted to management positions after going to a shortened day.”

Chandler said another cause for the increase in students who are working instead of attending school full time is that some students are wanting to save money for college.

“I could see the economy being a part of it,” Chandler said. “College is expensive, and I can see trying to get ahead as being a part of it.”

Senior Autumn Rodriguez is one of those students, and works at Chili’s and as a nanny for her nephew. She attends school on Blue days, except for seminar.

“[I went to a shortened day] just so I could work more because I have to start saving money for college,” Rodriguez said. “Also, some of my classes for second semester were kind of pointless. I kind of thought about [missing out on things] at first but I’m kind of in-the-know because of social media.”

Rodriguez appreciates the extra rest and free time she receives because of her shortened day.

“The pros are I get to get more rested [for my] two jobs now and I get to see my nephew more,” Rodriguez said.

Senior Grant Schrepfer also has a shortened day so he can spend more time working at Pizza West. He is present at school for  the first three blocks on Blue days and for first block on Silver days.

“I still get to come to school and see my friends but you also get to relax and study more,” Schrepfer said. “[The cons are] you don’t get to be at school all day to see your friends and you miss out on some of the things that are going on.”

Rather than having a shortened day, senior Alex Reeves chose to use the Quick Step offered by the school program offered at the school to take Economics II at Johnson County Community College.

“I’m still in after school activities, so going part time would prevent me from doing [them],” Reeves said.

Chandler wants students who are considering having a shortened day to think carefully about their decision.

“As seniors consider going to a shortened day, really consider that it’s your senior year and what you might be missing out on,” Chandler said. “You can only be a senior once, but you can always work and you can always take a class at Johnson County [Community College].”