Exam season is never a particularly happy time for students, but as second-quarter exams approach, this is especially true for the class of 2025. The Brighton High School administration recently announced that seniors can no longer qualify for second-quarter exam exemptions.
The decision comes a year after BHS pioneered a new policy regarding senior semester exam exemptions. The exam exemptions, which have traditionally only applied to fourth-quarter exams, were extended to second-quarter exams as well as part of a pilot program to increase senior attendance.
According to head principal Matt Evans, though, data from the 2023-2024 school year indicated that the new policy had little effect on attendance overall.
“In reviewing student attendance data, there was not a significant improvement in student attendance as a result of the policy,” Evans said. “There was also a concern that students were coming to school sick with a higher frequency due to being worried about not meeting the opt-out criteria.”
While the fourth-quarter exam exemption will remain in place, Evans said that the second-quarter exam exemption policy would need to be revised if it were to return in the future.
In order for seniors to qualify for an exam exemption, they must maintain a good attendance record and high grades in their classes. If a student has a B in a class and two or fewer absences, they are granted an exam exemption; the same holds true if they have a B+ or better and three or fewer absences. Exemptions are granted on a class-by-class basis, and behavior also factors into how they are allotted.
The policy is meant to motivate seniors to continue investing effort in the classroom even as post-graduation plans are solidified and “senioritis,” or the widespread sense of apathy towards school that many seniors experience, sets in.
“The exam exemption for seniors was originally designed to be a reward for students who were coming to school and coming to school on time, as well as performing in the classroom, since there are both attendance and grade criteria,” Evans said. “Seniors were selected as a group that had already been through exams a number of times but also because their attendance was historically the most challenging.”
Despite the continued tradition of senior skip days and other unexcused absences, senior exam exemptions have been largely effective in the past. Senior Elliot Gay said that the prospect of being excused for her final exam motivated her to attend school even when she was compelled to skip at times. However, Gay also said that the administration’s failure to communicate the changes regarding the second-quarter exam exemption policy earlier prevented her from engaging in other activities and traditions outside of school.
“I was upset about it because I missed out on other opportunities thinking that I had to go to school for this semester,” she said.
Like Gay, senior Mickey Phillips was also displeased with the changes to the exam exemption policy.
“I’m honestly very disappointed; that’s something I was looking forward to,” Phillips said.
Phillips also said that she feels that the administration’s decision to change the exam exemption policy may backfire in terms of senior attendance.
“I think it worked well to get last year’s seniors to attend school, and I know that when this year’s seniors found out we weren’t doing it, a lot of us just gave up on caring about our attendance,” Phillips said.

The second-quarter exam exemptions implemented during the 2023-2024 school year reflected a shift towards more leniency with quarterly exam protocol. Many students have been vocal about their unhappiness with exams, with some suggesting a switch from quarterly exams to semester exams or eliminating exams altogether. However, Evans made it clear that exams are here to stay in the near future. He said that the quarterly exams continue to promote consistency in the content covered in classes taught by different teachers.
“By using the same assessment, it provides an opportunity for teachers to collaborate to identify areas where students may need more or less support. If there are differences between teachers, it is an opportunity for teachers to talk about what they are doing from an instructional standpoint that did [or] didn’t work in terms of student learning,” Evans said.
While the exams themselves aren’t going anywhere, Evans said that he would favor more flexibility and creativity in the types of exams that are being administered.
“I do think we may see an increase in changes to the format,” he said. “We may see more classes shift away from a multiple-choice test and look at project [or] presentation options to allow for demonstration of learning that the multiple-choice test previously measured.”
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