During second period on Friday, February 3rd, ASB’s morning announcements rang through each classroom bringing bad news to all students without perfect attendance habits. This article will provide McClatchy student body opinions as well as my personal perspective.
Teachers were instructed to read our school’s new late policy to the class, spurring groans and frustrated comments from unsupportive students. This policy tells that any student that cannot make it inside the school building before the 8:30 morning bell is no longer allowed to enter through the main building, and must instead walk to the auditorium to get a late pass.
At the auditorium, students have to share their name, grade level, and reason for tardiness to a staff member before they’re allowed to enter the school and find their first period class. Hundreds of students are late to school every day so it is expected that the line for late passes will be hefty.
In addition to this, if you are tardy more than once in a week, school administration will contact your parents to “offer interventions and advise on potential consequences.” Further tardies call for after-school detention and possible placement on an attendance contract.
In previous years, students were granted a 5 minute grace period when arriving late to first period. Now, if students make it to school even a minute after the bell rings, they must instead detour, and in turn, be much later to class.
On the first day of this new policy, students reported having to wait 20+ minutes in a line of over 80 people. Most of these students would have been 5-7 mins late if they were able to enter the school.
Personally, I don’t think this policy will last more than a month. The collective student attitude towards frustration and annoyance. And what good does it accomplish? Students being 4x later than before the policy. If I arrived at 8:31 and had to wait in that line, I’d turn around and skip.