Since the beginning of the new school year, we have been introduced to new rules regarding tardiness. These rules have been brought on with the help of old and new administrators.

These new rules consist of the following: after your first two tardies, you are given a warning and a call home. After the third tardy, you are sent to the office and given an intervention after school on either Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday to help get you back on track. Any further tardies will result in one extra hour of support and intervention after school. 

“[Tardies] are definitely decreasing…” Principal of Discipline Renee Rice said, “For most periods. We still have a problem with GLC after lunch.” 

There is more accountability for students now as well. Not only do they receive after-school support for their tardies but certain privileges are taken away if students have too many tardies. 

“Athletes also have a stricter policy,” Rice said. If an athlete has three tardies they have to sit out for a quarter of their game, and if they continue to be tardy to class then they have to sit out even longer until they start to be prompt

Even if you aren’t an athlete there are some activities that can be taken away from you.

“Students who had three more tardies didn’t get to go to the [homecoming] dance,” Rice said. 

In previous years, our school has tried different methods to reduce the number of people who were late to class. We had in place a system called TRAP. This new system required teachers to shut their doors immediately after the last bell rang. Then supervisors would walk hallway to hallway collecting the students who didn’t make it to class before their teachers closed the doors. 

There is a possibility that if the new rules don’t work out for our school, that we will go back to the TRAP system instead. 

“It’s possible that the two would be used together,” Rice said.

Some people might need a little more help being prompt and managing their time so they’re not late. 

“I would recommend setting a two-minute alarm on your phone like, have an alarm two minutes before each bell…” Rice said, “If you are late [because] you’re talking to a teacher, there’s a reason to get a pass.”