Two hundred and forty seniors were absent from school today due to a planned senior ditch day that will cost the school $12,000, according to Assistant Principal Dr. Jeanne Jones. Jones said that this is a much larger number than in previous years, and amounts to two-thirds of the senior class. Thirty of the students were marked as ill.

The ditch day had a severe financial impact on the school, with the absent students costing SDA thousands of dollars. “We get $50 a day for each day a student is in a seat and that pays for books, facilities, teacher salaries, etc.,” said Jones. “That’s how the school exists. Two hundred and forty times $50 is $12,000 that we lost today.”

Jones expressed dismay over the seniors who chose to take the day off. “What does it say to your teacher when 14 days before school is out you prefer to sleep in or go to Disneyland or something?” she asked. “What does it say to yourself about your commitment to your school and your learning? And what does it say to the underclassmen? What kind of example are you setting?”

“At some point as you get older you have to make a decision about your commitment, whether it’s your commitment to your school, to your job, to your education, to your family,” she said. “You make a decision on your personal integrity.”

The ditch day caused a school to take a substantial loss that Jones said she doesn’t think the students realized. “I honestly believe if our kids knew we would take this kind of a loss I believe they would’ve been here,” she said.