Is the Tardy Policy Necessary?

Tardy policies are something that needs a compromise. Tardies are very strict in our school. You get a classroom referral, and parents are notified on your second tardy. This is just too much. Some teachers are also rude or nice about these situations. Let's say you come late to school but not on purpose and get into class late. Some teachers won’t accept that and mark you as your first tardy. All we need to do is a compromise, having at least a minimum of 3 warnings. If it becomes consistent where the student is taking advantage of the three minimum warning, then that’s when you get a classroom referral and parents get notified, and so on. This year's tardy policy is too strict; this isn’t fair to most students. Something needs to be changed. 

     However, if I’m being honest, after hearing our vice principal, Mr. Samson,  talk about why he thinks stopping tardies is essential to our school and students, I’m starting to agree with him. Mr. Samson made some great points on why we need tardies. He said, “Tracking tardies can make students recognize how their actions impact their learning.”

     Mr. Samson also stated, “I believe that the tardy policy will help.”  He also points out that their next step is something called “Tardies R” which is for students being rewarded for not having tardies or having very few tardies. They want students to feel rewarded for listening and following IKE rules. Mr. Samson also pointed out that in just one day, 94 students were tardy for the first period.