STAS KNOP | PEXELS

New measures have been set to reduce tardies on campus.

What is happening | School administrators are instituting two drastic regulations to reduce student tardiness. 

All side gate entrances will close at 8:20 a.m.,despite first period not officially beginning until 8:30 a.m. All students arriving at school after the new time will be required to enter through the front gate, with a possible tardy slip in hand. This had made some lives of student drivers more difficult as they must struggle to locate street parking.

The second new policy mandates all students who arrive to class after the late bell rings must go to the lecture hall and obtain a late pass. This new rule was instated after the administration noticed an increase in students arriving to class, particularly in periods one, three, and five. 

Teachers must then lock their doors and are not allowed to let late students into their classrooms until students show them a late pass. Additionally, during the first and last 10 minutes of class, teachers are not allowed to let students leave the classroom for any reason. This is to ensure that the campus is clear and students are in their classes. Teachers must give a hallway pass to students if they want to leave their classroom. 

“Students were also skipping class and just walking around campus throughout the day,” assistant principal Ms. Bonney said. “As you can see, this is a safety issue with our entire school community so we had to make a drastic change… this was one of the changes that the administration, teachers and students decided to immediately implement to alleviate this problem.”

Why does it matter | Achieving consistently excellent attendance is highly prioritized by staff and faculty. As recent statistics show, there has been a considerable increase in the number of tardies exhibited on campus over the past semester. The objective of these tardy sweeps is to minimize the figure of students late to their classes.

Who this applies to | All students on campus must follow these regulations and arrive to class on time in order to avoid being caught in the tardy sweep.

What they’re saying | “This is to strengthen the message that attendance matters, and that students need to become responsible young adults and build good habits, which includes being on time,” Ms. Bonney said. “We understand that during online learning, students were free to roam around their own home without any consequences. However, we are now learning in-person at a school setting with the traditional learning mode. Come to school on time, go to all your classes, learn and enjoy your breaks with  your friends and school activities during non-class time.”

What’s next | After spring break, consequences for tardiness will be issued to students who are chronically late to class, including detention, according to Ms. Bonney.