West’s Tardy Policy
November 6, 2015
In the past year, West Anchorage High School has decided to create a new tardy policy. The guidelines and regulations of the new rules have some students upset.
The rules of the tardy policy state that if you are late and do not have a pass from an adult, you cannot get into class and you will be sent to a tardy station where you will get a detention.
Antonio Wyche has been a security guard at West for six years. “The purpose of the tardy policy is to make kids more aware of the importance to get to class on time,” said Antonio.
The goal was to decrease the amount have tardiness, and there has been a noticeable decrease over the past year. “The halls have also cleared up because of the new tardy policy,” added Antonio.
Although there has been a decrease in tardiness, there seems to be an increase in absences. On September 10th, 2015, Alaska Dispatch News released an article that said Anchorage School District data seems to have seen a slight decrease in attendance and performance.
The question is whether or not students are skipping school instead of coming to class late because they don’t want to get in trouble.
Tess Burnett, a West High senior, has a different opinion. She seems to believe the new rules have had the opposite effect on the school. “I know a lot of people, myself included, who would rather just not come back to school and skip when they know they are going to be late instead of facing the consequences.” She believes it’s way too harsh.
Something else to add is how much more class time the students miss when they are sent back to get a pass. Madison Frye, also a West senior, said it has actually made her an extra 10 minutes late. “When you are only a minute late and have to walk all the way back to the office to get a pass and then you have to wait in line it probably makes me at least 10 minutes later than I would have originally been”, she said.
A suggestion Tess made was that maybe the students should just get a warning first, and when they do get the detention, the teachers could just give it to the students right away instead of having to leave class.
Isabeau Barnes • Nov 23, 2015 at 12:08 pm
I definitely agree that it encourages the opposite of what we want. Good article on something that needs to be re-accessed.
Kiara Myre • Nov 23, 2015 at 12:02 pm
The tardy policy should only apply to students who are more than 5 minutes late
Heather M. • Nov 23, 2015 at 11:51 am
Great informative topic! This topic relates to the majority of the students here
Kalina A. • Nov 23, 2015 at 11:46 am
This article is well written because I think that it gives enough information about the new policy
sheri nakarak • Nov 23, 2015 at 11:29 am
interesting article!
John W • Nov 23, 2015 at 11:26 am
You wrote a good article. Good job. I was informed the whole time I was reading. woop
Brother • Nov 23, 2015 at 8:41 am
Glad someone is voicing the opinions of students. I like the article.
Unity Perez • Nov 23, 2015 at 8:29 am
I do think the tardy policy is kind of harsh, being a freshman at West and hearing about the tardy policy made me even more scared to start high school. At least it gets the point across on how important it is to come to class on time. I have yet to be late to any of my classes.
Ayuel • Nov 23, 2015 at 8:09 am
After Antonio’s quote you stated Antonio as say you uuse the last name after you use his whole name once unless there are two Wyche then you use His first name
Nyahyul • Nov 23, 2015 at 8:01 am
Your story was on topic and very detailed, great article.