Late to school, late to life: more tardies, more detentions

CVHS students accumulated 1,500 additional tardies through winter break this school year compared to the last. The administration is considering both old and new ways to address this problem. We at The Olympian believe that the school can help to prevent tardies in a variety of ways.

We believe that the most effective method would be to emphasize consistently coming to class on time with positive reinforcement, rather than punishing those who are constantly late.

In previous years, the school administration used tardy sweeps to encourage coming to class on time in order to avoid being left outside during one of the dreadful affairs. This year, the administration has not run any tardy sweeps. Rather, the current system to combat tardiness is to send a truancy letter home for every nine tardies received. If students are sent two truancy letters, they are assigned Saturday school. There is also talk of adding more detentions for students who are frequently late.

The school administration also plans to implement a new rewards system for students who are consistently on time. The idea is still in the works, but Principal Blaine Torpey would like to use this method in order to support positive student behavior.

The Olympian recognizes that it is very important that students get to class on time and be present for the full class period. This prevents the disturbances in the classroom that occur through coming late and interrupting a lesson or lecture.  That is why we believe it is good idea to implement various methods such as truancy letters and detentions as punishment for multiple tardies, but more importantly, to focus more on rewarding students for being on time. If students who are chronically late to class have an incentive to come to school earlier, they will more likely want to change their normal routine so that they may benefit from the rewards.