Cape Elizabeth High School juniors now have the option to sign out and leave campus during the last period of the day if they have no scheduled classes.

And one student, Natalie Vaughan, who represents the junior class student government, which initiated the policy change, says students are giving positive feedback on the change.

“They’re excited to have this new freedom and sense of independence, and they really like the fact that they don’t feel forced to hang around school after the end of their classes,” said Vaughan. “The whole process has given our class a good deal of pride.”

Following a second reading on the policy change, the Cape Elizabeth School Board unanimously approved the new rule March 10. The amendment to the policy, regarding “use of unscheduled class time for high school seniors,” incorporated juniors.

The issue was first raised in late 2014 and brought to the school board’s policy subcommittee in January. At the time, a group of juniors proposed that the junior class have the same privileges as the seniors, with parental permission, to arrive to school late, leave early, or leave campus during the day when they don’t have classes.

Vaughan said the juniors advocated to leave at the end of the day for several reasons; the main reason being a lack of space at the high school where they could spend their free periods, or “frees.” Before the new policy, underclassmen that met the academic eligibility criteria, such as being on the honor roll, had an in-school privilege that allowed them to use their “frees” to study in the cafeteria, library or other appropriate places. But students were not allowed to leave the campus, according to Cape Elizabeth High School Principal Jeffrey Shedd.

Students seeking privileges must meet standards outlined in the school department’s policy regarding co-curricular and athletic programs and high school eligibility requirements, beginning with grades recorded the last quarter during the student’s sophomore year.

Shedd said it would be difficult to effectively monitor students if the juniors were given the same privileges as seniors. Shedd told the Current earlier this month that he and junior class representatives met this winter and were able to compromise in terms of expanding junior privileges.

Vaughan learned the school guidance office has had issues with seniors trying to deliberately rearrange their schedules in order to have a free first period. Knowing that the school was trying to control this problem, the students then decided to ask only for early dismissal, Vaughan said.

“We probably will not advocate for late arrival in the future because Mr. Shedd has brought to our attention a viable reason why such a freedom would lead to difficulties for the school,” she said. “Mr. Shedd doesn’t want that issue becoming more pronounced if it is allowed to spread to the junior class, which we felt was completely fair.”

Juniors are now able to leave during their free periods at the end of the school day.

School Board Policy Subcommittee Chairman John Christie said the board’s goal was to “increase the level of self-direction in terms of how juniors manage their learning process.” He said giving juniors some time management practice earlier on may serve them well in the future.

“Juniors are nearing college and career readiness and we believe that they are prepared to begin to manage more of their own time responsibly,” said Christie.

Vaughan said she has not heard of any juniors who oppose the policy change, but there are some juniors who aren’t directly affected. Because some juniors don’t have free periods at the end of the school day, they don’t have the same opportunity to leave early.

She added, “If there were any juniors who didn’t want to leave early given the opportunity, they could simply choose to remain in school until the end of the day.”

On behalf of the junior class, Vaughan said the students are “proud” that the school board and Shedd trust the students enough to grant them the new privilege. In addition, the fact that the school board accepted the juniors’ proposed policy change is “very exciting” because it proves that they have the power to change certain aspects of the school they dislike.

“It is nice to know that we have a principal and school board who will listen to the opinions and desire of the student body,” said Vaughan.

And, Vaughan said, students are hoping that getting dismissed early during their free periods will give them more time to do homework from home rather than in the library where there might be distractions. The policy change will also save students from aimlessly wandering the halls or sitting in a random classroom during their free periods, Vaughan said.

“It also frees up students who have cramped schedules by giving them an extra hour or so to schedule appointments or take care of other errands that they may not have had the chance to do before,” she said.