For the exception of the guy who curses and helps out later working the severed hand in Dave and Chainsaw's school room massacre setup and the guy who spends six weeks in the bathroom, all the other extras were gone about 1/3 into the movie.
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Yeah, I noticed that too. Seems it ended up being the main cast, even for the exam with the exception of Jerome who came in after 6 weeks in the washroom
shareDidn't we also see that in 'stand and deliver' and 'revenge of the nerds!'
shareI always noticed that too. Half the class either left the very first day when he was taking roll, or when most of the class ditched on their way to the library, and the security guard only brought back the "main" characters. The one guy (who i believe has the unfortunate credit of "Scuzzy kid") kept showing up every now and then (seen at the 4th of July party, and then as the "crawling hand" during the classroom massacre scene), but even he isn't there for the test at the end. Jerome (the big guy who went to the bathroom) disappearaing was obviously done for the big payoff at the end. But the rest were never explained, which is odd, since Gills told Shoop that all the students had to pass the test or he would be fired.
I also noticed that during most of the classroom scenes, the camera only seems to focus on the left side of the room, I guess so we wouldn't notice that the rest of the desks are all empty.
I think all of the extras disappearing was meant to represent real life. Most kids who go to summer school don't finish, which explains why they were in summer school in the first place.
Jerome, the black guy who went to the bathroom, said at the beginning that his being there was a mistake. It looks like it was. When he comes back, he gets the highest grade, passing with a 91. I guess Jerome figured he wouldn't waste his time sitting in a class he didn't need to take, so he enjoyed his summer and came back to take the test, knowing he would easily pass since he already passed the first time.
And when Gills tells Shoop that all the students had to pass, I'm guessing he was referring to all of the students who would actually take the test.