Churchland has enforced a new tardy policy for students this semester.
This “tardy policy” is being enforced by administration at the beginning of second semester.
The policy was first made by the English department, and when administrators found out about how well it was performing in the classrooms, they decided to make it a schoolwide policy.
Assistant principal Mrs. Willis says, “Our principal, Mrs. Burden, decided to enforce it, and we agreed that the tardy policy would assist not just the teachers but the students in starting their classes on time, and getting better flow getting to the classes.”
She also spoke about her hope for the policy by saying, “We are hopeful that it will assist the student in being responsible and knowing where they’re supposed to go and adhering to their schedules.”
While administrators like Willis seem to be hopeful for the policy, the students don't seem to be too fond of it.
“I don't like the policy because it gives not too many attempts to be late to class,” said student Paul Wallace referring to the consequences of the policy.
The first offense of being tardy a student will receive a verbal warning, the second offense the student will get a written warning from the teacher. Followed by the 3rd offense, the student’s parents will be contacted via either a note or a call home. The fourth offense, however, a student will receive a referral from their teacher. Finally, the fifth and sixth offenses are student recovery and an admin referral.
It has been approximately a month since the policy started for the entirety of the school and Willis says, “I hope the policy will last way past my time here.”
But it seems that the policy only affected the hall traffic for the first weeks. After security guard Quentin Harper was asked if he had noticed a difference in the amount of people in the halls he said, “No, I haven’t. The halls are still flooded with students after the bell rings.”
Even though students don’t seem to care about the new policy, administrators will continue to enforce it.
“We will continue to enforce the policy, and if kids continue to be late to their classes there will be consequences, and we have a system to track it,” Willis said.
Photo Credit: Brianna Boullt