By Danielle Kullmann, Mrudula Sriram, Ninotchka Valdez and Julia Labban

At the start of the 2014-15 school year, RCS implemented a new passing time of six minutes, as well as a new start time of 7:30 a.m. and end time of 2:30 p.m. This change was made due to the State of Michigan requiring that students be in class for a minimum of 1,098 hours per year.

Some students, such as junior Sudharshna Radhakrishnan, feel constricted by this change.

“I feel like I can’t go to the bathroom, socialize with my friends or buy a snack from the vending machine,” Radhakrishnan said. “It seems like my only focus is getting to class and nothing else.”

Other students, such as sophomore Jessica Castro, like the change.

“I actually like it because my locker and my classes are close together and are in the same hallway,” Castro said. “So it doesn’t really make a difference since I’m usually one of the first people in class anyway.”

Unlike Castro and Radhakrishnan, sophomore Jasneet Aulakh is indifferent to the new passing and start times.

“I definitely wasn’t happy about it, but I don’t find myself struggling to get to class,” Aulakh said. “All my classes except 1st hour are pretty close to my locker, so I’m not bothered by the new timings.”

According to assistant principal Neil DeLuca, the new start, end and passing times are easier to remember and provide students with sufficient time to get to their classes.

“One of the things I’ve noticed as an administrator is that the students have more than enough time to get from one end of the school to the other; six minutes is plenty,” Mr. DeLuca said. “Most of the time you see students in the hallways talking with friends so it’s more efficient to see them go to class pretty quick, get it done and over with.”