Students react to lateness policy

By: Jasmin Barnett
The Rams Horn
Tuesday, January 01, 2008

"Even though I drive, it is still a problem for me to get to school on time," says Shannon Artis, senior.

While some RHS students say they simply can’t make it to school on time, Ms. Pasteur, RHS principal, says tardiness will not be tolerated. "Students need to get to school on time," she says. "They need to be in school every day, unless they’re sick or there is an emergency."

According to the current lateness policy, students who are late to school but arrive before 8 a.m. are sent to their homerooms with a pass. The tardiness is then recorded as either unexcused or excused based on the student’s reason for being late to school. Students who arrive after 8 a.m., students must stay in the cafeteria until the end of first period. Those tardy students are either marked excused or unexcused based on their reasons for being late to school.

"I don’t like the lateness policy. I think it is a waste of time, and students have to just sit in the cafeteria; so, it’s like a free period for them," says Jaydah Williams, senior.

This year Ms. Pasteur promised, "What will change drastically is what happens to students who are late. We’re going to keep track of attendance and tell parents when children are not in school or not on time."

Some students say there should be some allowances made for tardy students, especially those who simply can’t make it to school on time.

"I think it is a waste of time. A lot of students have trouble getting to school in the morning, and they shouldn’t have to sit in the cafeteria doing nothing for forty-five minutes when they could be in class learning," says Simone Day, senior.

There are some students who say being on time to school is very important.

Yet, teachers point out that making sure that students are on time to school will prepare them for the work world.

"Being on time is practice for students. For example, it is practice for them when they start working at their real jobs," says Mr. Logan, tech.

Late students disrupt the teaching process. Often, the teacher has to stop teaching to collect passes and help the tardy student catch up on their class work. Most teachers say they just want students to get to school on time so they can learn.

"I think it’s wonderful if the students get dropped off; it will make students come early if parents know they cannot come earlier," says Mr. Nuriddin, math. "I think it is a good thing …because it will start to make more students come on time so they won’t have to worry about making up missing assignments. I think it’s a step in the right direction."

Commander Stramenski says, "Even though it does cause a lot of cooperation from students, parents, and teachers" most teachers will support consequences for tardy students because their goal is to educate students. That can’t be done if students are not in class.