To help with detention attendance and student discipline, MHS will be assigning detention only through Student Conductor.

“Prior to the pandemic, an assistant principal would assign a detention. We’d have upwards of 40 to 50 kids each day for detention,” detention coordinator Jillian Rooney said. “After the pandemic, the number got really low. Now with the way we’re doing stuff, there might be a need for a second person. So far, that hasn’t happened.”

Previously, teachers would have to go through APs to assign detention. Now, teachers can use the student conductor to assign detention quickly using Student Conductor. Student Conductor is a system that automatically tracks tardies, fines and disciplinary assignments.

“We didn’t really change discipline,” assistant principal intern Loni Lawson said. “We’re just following the actual guidelines and the rules that were supposed to be followed a while ago.”

Other than the assignment method, detention has stayed largely the same.

“If there have been changes, I haven’t seen them,” sophomore Felix Turner said. “They’re not really noticeable.”

Detention still has a low attendance rate overall. The highest attendance rate was during the week of October 25, with 30% of students showing up. The average attendance rate is currently around 24%.

“We’ve had low detention attendance ever since the pandemic,” Rooney said. “I think the intent was that Student Conductor would kind of make sure kids follow through with their consequences. However, I haven’t seen that change yet.”