by Kiara Covarrubias and Anisa Li
It’s a minute to class, but a view of the quad doesn’t show it: students are milling around, joking with friends, and dragging their feet with no apparent intention of arriving to class on time. Excessive tardiness is an increasingly problem.
On Wed. Feb. 10, however, the school is taking dramatic action in correcting this problem by enacting a much stricter policy. Each student that is late to class, whether by a minute or an hour after the bell, will receive an after-school detention from 3:15 to 4:00 p.m.
If the detention is not served within two days, the student will receive two detentions, and if those are also ignored, the punishment will escalate to an In-House-Suspension.
“This is a policy I wouldn’t have come up with on my own,” said principal Linda Scheele, “It was proposed several months ago, and in the year and a half I’ve been here, many teachers have complained about the excessive number of students being tardy.”
This new rule was discussed for several months following the initial proposal by math teacher Lisa Irwin and was approved in a faculty meeting vote in late January. No teachers voiced any opposition, though some were skeptical about the severity of the policy.
“At the faculty meeting, no one voted against it, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is in favor of the new policy,” said social studies teacher Thomas Griffin. “Personally, I don’t see the need for it.”
However, though personal opinions may differ, most teachers agree that in order for the policy to be successful, everyone must participate. If some teachers abide by the rule and others do not, the system will fall apart. For this reason, though Griffin did not vote for the policy, he did not vote against it, either.
Many staff members, including the principal, are confident that this new plan will work because of its simplicity and consistency, where past policies have not. Their assurance in this comes from the significant success at Petaluma High School when the same policy was adopted at the start of the 2008-2009 school year.
“Petaluma had a similar problem with similar tardy numbers two years ago,” said Scheele, “but since they implemented the zero tolerance policy, numbers have dropped dramatically.”
Currently, the number of tardies accumulated in one week averages at 475, with about 358 different students arriving late to class once or more in the same week. Some students are tardy for all three classes in one day; one student has 58 tardies so far. The attendance office records approximately 95 tardies daily.
“If we allow students to keep making wrong decisions, we aren’t doing them any favors,” said Scheele.
After the policy was initiated at PHS, the total number of tardies for the entire year equaled the average number of tardies for one week at Casa. At first, a great number of detentions were given out for tardiness; however, students soon adapted and the numbers declined.
Many students are confident that the policy will go out of effect quickly, and claim that they would rather skip class entirely than receive a detention.
“I don’t want to ruin my record because I have never had a detention before,” said junior Katie Murphy. “If it was your first tardy and you are an A student it would be terrible to end up in detention. This should only be for people that are repeatedly late.”
Though many students like Murphy have been vocal about their criticisms of the policy, not all students oppose it.
“I don’t think the policy is a big deal. If you’re late it’s your fault. If you had a problem you can get it excused,” said sophomore Jill Russell.
The policy, though strict on unexcused tardies, has no effect on excused tardies. A tardy may be excused because of sickness, an appointment, a court date, a funeral, or a family emergency. Scheele hopes that parents will understand the purpose of the rule, and that they will not simply make excuses for their children to be late.
“By tolerating tardiness, we are teaching the students that being late is okay,” said Scheele. “The purpose of high school is to prepare students for the real world.”
“Think about it, in this economy, if you are late, there are plenty of people available to take your position,” added math and psychology teacher Jon Simon.
Scheele has reiterated the importance of this new policy to staff, parents, and students. All that remains is to see if the policy will be effective in curbing student tardiness.