First semester finals are approaching with the first round on Dec. 16. This year’s finals are considered controversial to some, as this is the first year the senior class is required to take them.

Many seniors were angered by this, blaming the administration for forcing them to take the finals. However, the school nor its administration is at fault.

According to Bob Yanello, the state legislature enacted a law adopting a new teacher evaluation system.

“The state of Illinois has passed a law, which states that part of teacher evaluations [involves] measuring student growth (student growth being [shown by] some improvement from one point to the other). Plainfield School District 202 decided that the way they were going to measure our student growth was with a pre-test and post-test format, with the post-test being the final exam. Teachers who teach seniors can’t be exempt from that; they have to be measured as well. So that’s why seniors have to take Final Exams first semester,” said Yanello.

This new system involves regular assessments that judge teacher capabilities based on student improvement. Since all teachers must be evaluated, teachers who instruct seniors are not exempt, which lead to seniors having to take finals for the first time ever.

There will be no new procedures for finals this year.

“We’re not going to change any of those procedures, I think they were dealt with the first year; they were implemented last year. At this point in time, I think they were effective in what we wanted to do to give everyone an opportunity to take his or her finals without any interruptions,” said Yanello.

As with last year, students will put their backpacks with electronics in the front of each classroom during testing to combat cheating during finals.

Water bottles will be allowed during testing, but no other drinks will be allowed in classrooms during finals.