New Policy Assigns Detention for 5 Tardies
October 24, 2019
A district-wide change in the tardy policy, which awards detention to students for fewer incidences of late arrival, was implemented on September 23. In the past, it took 7 tardies to trigger a response from the administration; under the new policy, students will receive detention after just 5 infractions.
Attendance Technician Jaylene Watson said that the new policy is a fair response to chronic lateness. “[Kids] were coming to class late, playing the game of 90 minutes. We were trying to get a way to have kids get to their classes sooner,” said Watson.
Watson noted that “detentions do clear at the end of the semester. So come January, you guys will get a clean state and start all over again.”
While the policy began several weeks ago, some students are unfamiliar with it. Freshman Maddy Kearney wasn’t aware there was a new policy. She also believes that students generally are not intentionally late to class. “I feel like some part of [being tardy] is just like being sick or having like, doctors’ appointments or just the carpool is late.”
Junior Katie Price doesn’t think that detention is an effective deterrent. “I don’t think people are going to care very much. I know a couple of my friends who have already gotten it, and they’re still late everyday.”
And with much of the recent focus among district administrators on student stress, Freshman Lucienne Aziz-Mahoney believes that the policy puts unnecessary pressure on students. “I think the new policy is unfair because our school already challenges us a lot, and now the tardy policy is making the school even stricter. Many kids are doing extra classes…that require lots of time, so when they are late in the morning, they don’t deserve a tardy,” Aziz-Mahoney said.
