This year, much to my chagrin, NS has decided to change the policy for online classes. In accordance with the new policy, students are only allowed to take online classes for credit recovery and not original credit. This limitation makes me feel like the school is putting academic limitations on their students for no good reason.

I was planning on taking some online classes this year, mostly because I see very few benefits in taking those specific classes in person, and would rather use an extra period to take a class that is far more useful.

       Having required classes is perfectly okay, and to be expected, but when there is no feasible way to evade a class if you think the in person class is not very involved or helpful. It makes me question the decision to stop offering online classes altogether.

       This is what angers me so much about the new policy: a student who isn't being challenged by their current classes will want to take more challenging ones. Therefore, the new policy is essentially only disadvantageous to the students who want to pursue further academic enrichment.

       The reason the new policy was put in place was because too many students were taking the online courses instead of taking the in-person classes. Too many students taking these online classes could be seen as an issue, but it brings up another question, why are so many students taking these classes? 

       The prohibition makes little sense to me because, either those students are taking those classes so they can take more educationally enriching classes, like I did, or they are taking the classes because the online classes are far easier than the in-person counterparts.

        I don't understand why either of those possibilities could warrant restricting students from taking online

classes because if the online classes are so easy that it has become a problem, then isn't that entirely the fault of the district for using a bad program? However, if that isn't the case, then what is the point of stopping students from taking the classes if they are still enriching and educational?

       According to counselor and teacher, Ben Cox, the reason for the limitation was because, on a school level,

it was a struggle to monitor students and stop them from cheating. 

       Additionally, due to the sheer amount of students taking the classes online, less money was going towards the school.

       While I can empathize with these issues I don't think it is a steadfast decision, but it does mean my quarrel is more with the district and state for the lackluster program and lowering funding. I am not the only one who dislikes this policy change, 70 percent of students at NS agree that changing the policy was a bad decision.

       Ultimately, despite the inconvenience for students and staff alike, it was a necessary change to be made.