The 10/10 Rule has been put into place at Monroe-Woodbury High School beginning this school year. It is a rule in which students cannot ask for passes in the first 10 minutes of class or the last 10 minutes of class unless it’s a medical emergency. 

Ms. Soto, Monroe-Woodbury’s new principal, said this rule was put into place to make students feel safe. After looking at past referrals and the time they were given, it was discovered that the majority were given in the first and last 10 minutes of class. One of the issues was too many students were in the bathroom in the beginning and end of the period.  

Ms. Soto knows not every student is going to be causing trouble in the bathroom.

“The kids here at M-W are great,” said Ms. Soto. “It’s those few kids who don’t follow the rules.” 

Since implementing this rule, Ms. Soto said the administration hasn’t seen any fights.

“I think we’re curbing it,” she said, about student conflict.

Mr. Sciarra, a math and computer science teacher at Monroe-Woodbury, likes the rule. He said that in the past most students come in, leave, and do not come back for a while. Then, they have no idea what is going on when they return. 

“It makes a world of difference,” said Ms. DeLong, one of Monroe-Woodbury’s Italian teachers. Based on the series of fights that happened last year, she thinks this rule addresses safety issues, especially in the bathroom. 

Mr. Hyman, an English teacher, thinks the 10/10 Rule is a good rule; however, it does present some problems. Mr. Hyman said he think that sometimes it’s difficult to tell students that they have to wait to use the bathroom. 

Akshaya Ramachandran, a senior at Monroe-Woodbury, said “I think only letting students out of class [in the first and last 10 minutes] actually hurts teachers because the middle of class is when the teacher’s give the bulk of instructions, information, presentations, assignments, go over things.” 

The 10/10 rule was also put in place to limit the amount of students in the bathrooms and hallways at a given time. 

Another senior, Vincent Formisano, believes there are some logistical problems with the rule. He thinks there will actually be a significantly more number of students in the hallways after the 10 minute mark, because as soon as students are allowed to go, they will all go. 

Senior Alexa Spagna thinks it would be more reasonable to have the rule be the first 10 minutes of first period and the last 10 minutes of 9th period. “If I have to leave in the middle of class when the teacher is giving material, I am going to miss it,” said Spagna.

The assistant principal, Mr. Yarmus, said that the hallways seem calmer since implementing this rule. Mr. Yarmus also said that the first and last ten minutes in class are the most important, which is why this rule is good for students.