In a break from normal bell routine, principal Wynne Satterwhite decided to switch Tuesday, December 10, from tutorial to a regular Monday schedule.

The change comes after large groups of students were witnessed leaving campus during tutorial on Tuesday, December 3.

“I want the message to get out that this is not something that has to happen,” Satterwhite said. “This is a privilege and if we can’t use it wisely, it will go away for an extended period of time.

However, the shift is only temporary because for the following Tuesday, December 17, the bell schedule will revert back to incorporate tutorial. At the same time, Satterwhite acknowledges the bad timing.

“We have finals in two weeks,” Satterwhite said. “And so this time is really critical and I get that there’s 1600 kids right here [on campus] and 200 over there. And 1600 are doing all the right things, why are we penalizing them? I don’t know how to make that message clear and I can’t do that by myself. I need some peer pressure, I need some help…I need some fellow students saying ‘you just messed this up for all of us. Thanks a lot!”

Tutorial session itself was implemented into the bell schedule almost a decade ago in the 2004-2005 school year. The practice of cancelling tutorial for one week after its abuse by students is not something new. At the time tutorial was added to the bell schedule, a specific stipulation allowed for tutorial to be revoked for one week following misuse.

On average, it is estimated that 20-40 students leave campus every tutorial. However, on that particular Tuesday tutorial, it is estimated that up to 200 students may have left school, leading to action taken by the principal.