Attendance in the state of New Jersey is governed by a simple guideline: every student can be absent up to ten percent of the 180-day school year before experiencing loss of course credit. Out of this simplicity, however, complex nuances can arise. PHS uses a variety of policies to ensure students maximize their time in classrooms and graduate with the required amount of credits. 
“At the high school level, you graduate by accumulation of credits. And if you are absent for more than 10 percent, which is where that 18 absences come from, then the state law says you automatically lose credit,” PHS Principal Cecilia Birge said. 
PHS assistant principals begin reviewing the attendance for every student immediately after graduation to determine who loses credit and who does not. For seniors, this process is especially crucial as New Jersey requires that they earn 120 total credits to graduate. Those who have exceeded the maximum number of absences face the consequence of not earning enough credits to graduate. 
Attendance and chronic absenteeism became a widespread issue following the pandemic, as circumstances caused many students to miss more than the 18 day limit for absences.
“The pandemic has disrupted learning so much. Remote learning was [not previously] considered [as] school days. It required an emergency executive order by the governor to allow remote learning to be a legitimate school day,” said Birge. “And then once school reopened its doors, students and families were reluctant to come back. [Of] the current seniors, more than half of them were not in the building in their freshman year.”
One of the policies PHS has implemented to help seniors recover credit is Saturday Academy, which will be held for two Saturdays during this school year. The academy operates for three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. Since each hour counts for one absence, a senior who stays both times can recover six absences in just one day. As a result, seniors who are just one or two over 18 absences can still gain credit for their classes. 
While Saturday Academy does not have regular classes to accommodate every course each student has been absent in, the assistant principals in charge have planned out a way to incorporate some learning as the seniors study and make up for their missing work. 
“We didn't want it to be just a passive sitting seat recovery time, [so] we paid teachers [to come], like a social studies teacher, ... a math teacher, an ESL [teacher], Spanish language support, ... [and] even I went in there and provided some tutoring,” said Birge, recounting her experience from the Saturday Academy that took place two years ago.
During Saturday Academy, seniors are asked to write an appeal letter explaining their reasons for absences. All appeal letters are then reviewed by an Appeals Committee composed of various teachers and counselors, which then votes on whether or not a senior can receive credit for their classes.
“You leave it up to the people in the room to read your letter to say, ‘yes, this person can get credit in this class’ or ‘no, this person can’t get credit’ ... So at the end of the day, it is easier to just do what you’re supposed to do ... [instead of] leaving your future to the vote of people that might not personally know you,” said PHS Assistant Principal Rashone Johnson. 
Saturday Academy and the appeals process come into play only after students surpass the 18 day absence limit, after which they lose credit. Under current policy, students only receive consequences for attendance once they reach this threshold, so the school is debating the implementation of measures to deter students from missing class before it happens.
“Should we assign consequences like detention? So that [way] the warning is given earlier, rather than [waiting] till the end of the year,” Birge said.
However, the school acknowledges that reasons for absences vary by student.
“Each family is different; each student is different. [Everyone] has very different needs … Some students have school avoidance issues, other students have anxieties. Some students have sports needs, [and] other students [are] international students ... who often travel,” Birge said.
Acknowledging this, PHS accounts for needs or extenuating circumstances of individual students that may lead to extended absence, allowing attendance contracts and attendance meetings with the Assistant Principals. 
“Those [attendance] contracts are drafted to support the students–to be here for them to take charge of their own learning.he assistant principal [then] has the authority to approve the additional absences,” Birge said.
As a result, the PHS administration’s approach to addressing chronic absenteeism stresses individual guidance and monitoring.
“First [we] build that relationship [with our students], continue to monitor them and know their needs, and then navigate, create using different tools, create different programs, [and the continuation of] Saturday Academy,” said Birge. “So far, we're doing extraordinarily well. Our graduation rate is anywhere north of 98 percent each year…  Whatever it takes for us to carry them through that finish line, we do it.” 

Tower Investigates: Attendance at PHS

From April 12­–14, PHS’s Ethics Bowl team traveled to UNC-Chapel Hill Campus in North Carolina to compete in the 2024 National High School Ethics Bowl Championships, an annual competition where two teams face each other to discuss and evaluate case studies with moral questions or dilemmas. Facing 24 teams from across the nation, PHS’s Ethics Bowl team engaged in a series of riveting discussions on ethical dilemmas, placing fifth overall and winning the Judges’ Choice Award. 
In order to qualify for nationals, each team had to win their respective regional Ethics Bowl competitions. Back in November, the PHS Ethics Bowl team began preparing for the New Jersey High School Ethics Bowl competition that they won in February. During their preparations for nationals, the Ethics Bowl team scrutinized numerous philosophical topics and practiced employing analytical strategies that they have developed throughout their past meetings. 
Unlike other discussion-based competitions, such as debate, where judges are instructed to discard their biases, ethics bowl judges may bring in outside knowledge or their own opinions during the rounds. As a result, co-captain Amanda Sun ’24 explains that the questions posed by judges and opposing teams during the tournament rounds are idiosyncratic, often making them challenging for the team to answer on the spot. 
“Personal opinions can influence the judges’ decisions when asking us hard questions or giving lower points ... but we just have to try our best and just present what we came to the table with,” Sun said. 
In addition to addressing judges’ varying moral beliefs, the team members also had to discuss differences in their own ethical values in order to reach a consensus on a moral framework to apply to potential cases during the national tournament.
“We [spent] so many hours on the plane, in the hotel rooms, in the classrooms, just talking to each other about the cases and just trying to figure out how to resolve each of our individual beliefs and disagreements,” Sun said. 
While competing with students from across the nation, PHS’s team also noted that the geographical origin of other teams influenced how they approached the same moral questions.
“We got to see other people’s perspectives for the first time on these new cases and be exposed to new ideas, as opposed to just kind of agreeing with ourselves over and over again,” said Sun. “The teams were more diverse geographically. People in the South have different concerns than those in the West and the East for example, so it was interesting to see how philosophy is taught in different areas.”
The geographical diversity of the competing teams was paired with a diverse set of judges with different areas of focus in philosophy. 
“One judge got really detailed with John Locke’s specific language for the social contract, which we hadn’t foreseen,” said Nikolai Margulis ’25. “One of our cases focused on the morality of speculating about Taylor Swift’s sexuality. We were asked if pop stars and politicians should be held to different standards in regard to publicity with their private lives.”
The team not only treated the tournament as a chance to broaden their perspectives on ethical viewpoints but also to explore local eateries and events, attending a bluegrass concert and dining out at fro-yo spots. For Margulis, the highlight of the entire experience was the down-to-earth atmosphere during the competition.
“We were all amazed by the spirit of genuine interest in discussion that seemed to fill every match. There was definitely an air of gratitude and excitement among each team,” Margulis said.

PHS Ethics Bowl competes at nationals

On October 22, the PHS community received an email from the Board of Education stating that Dr. Carol Kelley would be resigning from her role as PPS Superintendent following a nine-month leave of absence. In a later email to parents and guardians, Kelley offered her own words of explanation.

“This week, after much consideration, I made the difficult decision to resign as Superintendent of Princeton Public Schools. For personal and professional reasons, I must take some time to reset and recenter myself so I can later return to public education and continue to positively impact students,” Kelley wrote in an email.

Following Kelley’s announcement, Rebecca Gold stepped in to serve as Acting Superintendent and Dr. Kathleen Foster was appointed as Interim Superintendent ten days later.

Gold and Foster are both long-time administrators, in Princeton and elsewhere. Gold served for more than 25 years in Lawrence Township, serving in various leadership positions, such as the Director of Personnel. She currently serves as the Interim Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources in PPS. The temporary role of Acting Superintendent added to her current responsibilities.

When asked to describe the role of Gold and the Interim Superintendent, Dafna Kendal, President of the Board of Education, said that it was important to have someone to “sign the checks,” or in other words, act as a formal authority in the district decisions made by the administrative team.

“The board wants someone in charge; even though we have a really strong administrative team, we just want that one person,” Kendal said.

Deeply familiar with Princeton’s educational landscape, Foster most recently served as the Interim Principal for Princeton High School following the dismissal of Frank Chmiel. Prior to that, she held a longstanding administrative position in Robbinsville before joining the PPS district in December 2021 as the Interim Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction. On November 13, the board approved her appointment as Interim Superintendent, which is expected to last for the rest of Kelley’s contractual term. 

According to Foster’s contract, the Board wants to “enhance administrative stability, financial security, and continuity within the schools while the Superintendent is on a leave of absence.”

Rashone Johnson, the assistant principal at PHS, believes that PHS is used to these types of changes and can adapt well to them.

“[The] high school administration is still going to do everything in our power to make sure that things still run smoothly for all of our students and staff,” Johnson said.

As PPS changes administrators, students and staff have found ways to continue to achieve the goals of the district, namely quality education. Kendal agreed that students and staff are at the core of the district.

“I think what makes our district great is our teaching staff. And, I know there have been a lot of administrative changes … [but] our teachers just continue doing their jobs and focus on teaching and learning. So while I think it’s important who we have as a leader of the district, I think we’re led by … [what is happening] in our buildings,” Kendal said.

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