Our current tardy policy states that students tardy to school will have to stay after school. The only excused tardies are for prearranged appointments or funerals. In addition, no tardies are issued on days when the weather causes the students to be late to school.
The office has fielded numerous calls from parents about the tardy policy this semester because parents feel there is a good reason why their student is tardy and the student should not have to stay after school. Some students also voiced their displeasure.
Last year we allowed students to have excused tardies if they brought a note from home. We had some students with over 30 tardies to school, with notes from the parents excusing them each time. So we had students missing 1st and 2nd period classes over 30 times with no apparent repercussions- they still participated in their school activities and had a chance to make-up the classwork, putting a burden on the teacher to accommodate their absence. Last February I stopped accepting tardies for those students who were "habitually tardy" and made them stay after. And their morning attendance improved.
So this year I instituted excusing only prearranged tardies from staying after school. Unfortunately there are a few situations in which students have legitimate reasons for being late which are out of their control (examples- transportation issues, actually not feeling well rather than just being tired after a night activity, livestock got out, etc). And they don't feel it is fair that they have to stay after. I understand that.
The Nebraska Department of Education has data that shows there is a direct correlation between attendance and performance on the Nebraska State Assessments. And State Accountability is forcing me to be tougher on students missing school. The question is "What policy encourages students to show up on time every day, but yet accommodates those who legitimately can't?" If we set a number of allowable excused tardies, there are some students that will show up late that many times just because they know they can.
Here is what I am considering for second semester. Giving Mr. Sjuts and myself the discretion to approve up to 2 excused tardies to school per student each semester in addition to the excused tardies for prearranged appointments (students with diagnosed medical conditions may be approved for more than 2). Students can choose to explain to me why they were late (a maximum of 2 times a semester) or choose to stay the 30 minutes after school.
My position is that we (the school and the students) need to maximize the academic learning time that we have available. And whatever actions are taken, this is the message I want students to hear.
