***Opinion pieces reflect the opinion of the writer only, and not the opinion of the newspaper staff, student body, administration or school faculty.***

With a new semester and schedules now becoming the norm in our routines, Permian has recently been making necessary changes to the ways our school functions. Most importantly they have changed the time allocations for our passing periods to classes from a comfortable six minutes to a more rushed five minutes. Many students already know of the change and have adjusted while others still have a hard time, which is understandable as I have had three years of the past limit and I myself still have a hard time adjusting.

But I can only imagine the struggle kids have trying to get to classes on another side of the campus within five minutes or that of students that are new to the school or district for that matter. I can relate somewhat as only one of my passing periods has me walking from S-Hall to the New Building and I have noticed that I barely make it to class on time, but that is nothing compared to some of these schedules that the school decided not to care for when they made the changes.

Without a homeroom we cannot make up work, or finish homework early in the case of a job or pressing family event. Not all students can eat in the cafeteria, so many, like myself, starve themselves for lunch or, unlike myself, decide to skip and eat at one of the many restaurants nearby which rely on high school foot traffic. And now we cannot even walk to class easily anymore.

I entirely respect and understand the faculty behind this decision, but did they ever think to ask students for feedback on what we wished for within our own high school? Any requests on the closed campus lunches or the removal of homeroom, or even the time change in our passing periods? These things do indeed affect us. Shocking, I know. We are the reason these schools exist – to be taught right from wrong, subjects we need in life. We even choose our career paths in high school, so why aren’t we allowed an input here equal to the press. Parents are highly concerned with many of these topics and are slowly considering ECISD as one of the worst districts in the area and some are resorting to homeschooling or online schooling because their children are bullied and ignored?

Are we allowed to think anymore or do we need permission for that as well? We are being limited in simple ways that have effects that are all but simple. I have yet to see any teachers of mine applaud actions of their superiors and some even highly disagree with the new ways things are done. Not even the faculty agree with the passing periods and aren’t even allowed to extend their own tardy limit. We even get served two hours of Saturday school if we are tardy to first period now — how is this fair? Quite simply, it isn’t.

Permian is slowly showing us that students are not their main priority, at least not in the ideas I’ve listed here, and that instead they care about profit and if we aren’t counted here for attendance so they get the sweet cash from our presence, we’re wrong and breaking rules no matter what we’re doing, even if we’re sick, even if we’re with counselors, and even if we didn’t show up in the first place.