4 minute read
Tardy Policy
“Newest” Tardy Policy
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By Hailey Hutchison and Eden Buell
Science teacher Toshimi Fujikawa’s face scrunched with confusion. Regarding the tardy policy, she was told that students had to be given detention and it wasn’t up to her to decide.
“If they [students ] are not sitting [in] their seats by the bell, then they are marked as tardy, and if they have three tardies, then they are assigned a detention or a reflection session with the AP office. I also give them the option to serve a detention with me [...] I was told that this was the policy by the principal and assistant principals, that students had to get detention, not that it’s up to the teacher to assign one.” Fujikawa said.
Assistant Principal Gena Kurzfeld stated that there was no set policy for tardy students. But somehow, teachers and students were led to believe that there was a set and new policy for tardiness. Kurzfeld stated that the current policy for tardiness is: “If a student is tardy three times they get a truancy, and it’s up to the teacher to decide whether or not the student gets detention.”
Science teacher Brian Fredin believes in not using a tardy policy. As a teacher they have different methods for how they control their classroom. This is Fredin’s way.
“It’s not a directive, it’s a suggestive policy. And it is up to teachers. So, as a student that’s confusing right? But you have to kind of adapt to your teachers, so you know if your teacher is gonna go with the policy that is suggested by administrators then you have to respect that. So, it can be a bit confusing.” Fredin said.
Fredin, who has taught at AHS for 17 years, noticed this policy as well as the confusion around it. “I think we’ve only heard about it once, and so it helps to hear it multiple times. If you’ve been a teacher here long enough, you know about it from before so it’s not confusing. But if you’re new or if you’ve been here for three or four years when we haven’t used it, you were told kind of once and that was it. So [it’s] better communication that way especially for newer staff.” Fredin said.
Junior Toby Frischknecht explained that he didn’t know that teachers were able to give detention for tardies. He feels like the current tardy policy is somewhat vague.
“I didn’t know that teachers could give detention for tardiness. I feel like it’s [Tardy policy] weird and it leads to a lot of holes and gaps; it almost creates an unstable environment.” Frichknecht said.
Fujikawa concluded that the confusion around the tardy policy is partly because of the administration and teachers. “Part of it [confusion around the tardy policy] is because of school leadership, as in our school admin, they don’t always enforce it And also because teachers interpret it in different ways.” [...] “I think some teachers are not aware of the tardy policy, or they forgot about it, or they are just choosing to ignore it. [...] “I would like all the teachers to be on the same page and doing the same things.” Fujikawa said.
Fujikawa connected the situation with the tardy policy to a similar occurrence with the dress code a few years back. She also stated that the dress code was up to interpretation with teachers. “A few years ago there was confusion about the dress code policy, who it applies to, and if it treats certain populations unfairly. It was also up for interpretation from teachers ; some teachers would choose to enforce it and some wouldn’t, which is a similar scenario.” Fujikawa said.
Fredin proposed that instead of punishing students with detention, we should rather talk to them about the problems with being tardy.
“I think all of us need to do a better job talking to kids about why being tardy is a detriment to their education. As teachers we should have conversations about that.” Fredin said.
Fujikawa suggested that the tardy policy should be compiled into some sort of handbook so that teachers and students know what to follow. “I think making it written in some policy handbook or teacher handbook, but also making it very clear to students this is an agreement that they abide as being students here. Students also are supposed to have a handbook as well, but they are not aware that this exists.” Fujikawa said.
Senior Rita Chen presumed that an announcement about the tardy policy would clear the confusion. She also recommended that AHS should give students more time in order to get to their classes. “An announcement would be best. I don’t know if it’s possible, but to give more break time, or something along the lines of adjusting the bell schedule to incorporate more time.” Chen said.
Frischknecht wished more consideration was given to students. He indicated that there are major factors that lead a student to be late.
“I think having more understanding for students and how their lives are different. Some people depend on their parents to get here. Some people have a lot of underlying issues. There are a lot of obstacles for people to get here. ” Frischknecht said.
Teachers answer: “How would you want the tardy policy to be?”
Math Teacher Toby Jaw
“I would want the tardy policy to be centralized. Tardiness is a student management issue. Like, administration should handle it.”
Gov/Econ Teacher Kevin Beal
“If I wanted to [assign detentions for tardies] I would run them in my own classroom vs once a year I get to cover a detention.”
“I think it’s gotta be dependent on the period. I’m not a big fan of marking students late for first period.”
