Late Again: The new tardy system is redundant and adds to a negative atmosphere made by constant changes

At 7:39 a.m., students sprint in at the sound of the minute music and slip into the classroom, just barely making it to class on time.

At 7:41, the doors to the halls are locked and a line forms in the front office as students log their tardy in Skyward using the office’s desktop computer. They’re sent off with a kiosk-printed pass in hand, but now 15 minutes late and missing class instruction for their first hour.

East’s new tardy policy requires all students arriving after 7:40 a.m. to check in on a kiosk in the office using their student ID. After receiving a printed late pass, students are sent to their first hour. After their fifth tardy, teachers are able to refer students to administration, who will have a conversation with their guardians. After the sixth tardy, students may face “Friday School” — a two hour detention after school on Fridays. 

While the system holds students accountable for being late, students end up missing more class time waiting in line for their slip than they would’ve with the former teacher-reported tardy system. 

Previously, first hour teachers counted students tardy on their own, often giving leeway if students arriving after 7:40 were to be counted as late. Now, students who miss the bell by even a few seconds are sent back to the main office to receive a pass, only to wait in a 15 minute line before returning to class.

We understand the effort to decrease tardies. Students should be arriving on time to classes as a sign of respect to the teacher, to not miss any instruction and to form punctual habits. The idea is that if students are held accountable and tardies are made inconvenient, students will make the effort to avoid being tardy. This system may be beneficial to those consistently arriving five or ten minutes late to work as an incentive to arrive on time, but not suitable for high school students with unforeseen mishaps. 

The students whose dog ran out of the house when they tried to leave or whose younger siblings slept through their alarm shouldn’t be made even more late than they already were. They might have had every intention of arriving on time but were slowed due to unexpected and valid setbacks. 

Now these students will miss the start of their test that they stayed up late studying for. Students could miss the setup for a group project, leading them to have to work individually. The method of reducing the tardies is ineffective as it only takes up more class time.  

In addition, most teachers have their own expectations and policies for their students, which they explain in August. This policy was introduced to students and then set in-place the same week, leaving no time to understand the policy before it was implemented. This abrupt change led many confused on which policy is correct to follow — their teacher’s leniency or administration’s.  

East has already implemented many news systems this year. Juniors and seniors have adjusted to finding a different parking spot each morning. The student section has come up with new chants to replace those banned by administration. And all students have adjusted to having the doors automatically lock at 8:00 a.m.

It’s exhausting for the student body to balance each of these new policies. We feel administration is micromanaging every flaw ingrained in high school life, from the parking lot to sports games and now to the simple responsibility to be on time to our classes. We’ve adjusted to the new policies but now we can’t even be a minute late?

If administration wants to decrease tardiness, administration should offer support instead of penalizing students trying their best to make it to school on time. Instead, teachers and administration should be offering support to help students make it on time.