On Sept. 24, flex was officially taken away from Randall students. This caused considerable uproar among the student body, including us. We, and others, were in distress because we didn’t know why it was taken away or how it was going to change. We believe flex should go back to its original format.

We were especially upset because being in broadcast requires us to take time out of our day to interview, photograph, and record. One of those critical times for us was during flex, when all grades were out together. Now we have to move our schedule around to compensate for the loss of flex, meaning we have to go before school, after school, or during the lunch periods.

The original scheduling of flex gave us some type of freedom. Now that it is taken away, we feel micromanaged. Every flex day, people deal with a big crowd attempting to get to the auditorium before their time is up. This leaves us feeling rushed and stressed about being on time. Due to the way flex is now done, people with mandatory flex are losing time to get their quizzes/tests, or any other missing work done that they need help with.  These students are missing out on valuable learning time just so flex is more controlled by the administration. 

Additionally, due to the cell phone law, we lost valuable communication with our peers. Flex was once a time to catch up on work, take a break from class, and reconnect with friends who have different schedules. Not only have we lost communication with peers, but we have lost it with our teachers as well. With this flex schedule, I feel we only have one day per class, leaving some students and teachers stressed with overflowing rooms. With the old flex, we were able to stop by any teacher’s room and catch up on work. Now, we are limited to one day a week, possibly leaving students behind on grades that could’ve already been completed.

Above all, the original flex brought the student body together. All the grades at school used to be able to hang out with each other and meet new people. The new flex schedule changed that and is keeping us separated. But thanks to Jarren Krobot, the student body is coming together to get flex back. Krobot made a petition to reinstate the old flex we once loved. During the two lunch periods, Krobot left the petition out to be signed by anyone and everyone who would. By the end of the signing, he got over 500 signatures from students and staff members. We hope that the administration will consider the opinion of the student body and bring back the flex we all know and love.