The Tardy Policy at SHS

By: Morg Leis

The new tardy policy at Sparta High School has many students flustered after their first midterm back from summer break.

With the new tardy policy, every time you get marked tardy or absent Mr. Russ or one of the guidance counslers come and pull you out of class. They ask you why you were tardy and what your going to do to change it.

Senior Brianna Brinckman says, "I think it's really annoying when they come to your class. They stop the whole class to call you out into the hallway." She continues, "Everyone obviously knows when they have been tardy, they don't need a reminder, plus this is also letting everyone else know that you have been late."

Robin Reid, the Sparta High School Librarian, shares her thoughts on the tardy policy. " It's embarrassing to be tardy to a class and to be pulled out because of it, but it might be just be embarrassing enough to make kids get to class on time."

Many students feel that this policy is unnessasary and a waste of not only the teachers time, but the students as well. "Guidance counslers could be getting paperwork done, or settling more important issues than walking around to tell students they were tardy," states Brinckman.

When they pull you out of the middle of class, they are interrupting the learning process of not only the student in trouble, but the whole class as well. Many students at Sparta High School say that they thought school was about learning, not about making sure kids are in class on time.

"I think it takes away from students time to learn," states Senior Kayla Kelsey. She continues "they interrupt my classes everyday! It distracts me from my work and I sometimes loose my train of focus." Kelsey continues to talk about when it is acceptable to pull students from class. "There are a lot of kids that choose not to attend school at all. These are the kids who should be talked to, not those who are a couple seconds late to class," states Kelsey.

Brinckman thinks Russ should look into the student before he pulls them out of class. She states, "Teachers should take into consideration ones attendance and grades before disrupting their class. A student who has straight As and is always present should not get pulled out, that is unnessasary."

After the first quarter at Sparta High the tardy rate has gone down significantly since last , so the policy is working thus far but there is still an issue with the principle and guidance counslers pulling kids out of class and disrupting the learning process.

Senior Josh Bolden tells how he feels that if Russ needs to talk to you, he should take you out of class during a study hall. Bolden states, "I was pulled out of class during notes and i missed some important points that i need to know for my test at the end of the week."

Kelsey agrees with Bolden's statement and adds, "If this many students feel negatively about the policy, maybe something should be done about the situation."