Wadsworth High School has recently changed and revised its tardy policy for students. Mr. Sullivan has been very influential in spotting the problem and making the policy.
There has been a lousy amount of tardiness across all of the classes, freshman through seniors, according to Dr. Vincent Suber, the head principal of WHS. He also believes that seniors may have had fewer tardies than other classes and are easier to manage when tardy.
The new policy is currently set that when students reach more than five tardies in a quarter, they may lose privileges to a flex pass, receive detention, the student will have a meeting with the principal, or lose extracurricular privileges.
There are many ways students can have excused tardies or excused absences, such as illness of a child or family, quarantine of the home, death of a relative, medical or dentist appointment, religious holidays, college visitations, or any other excuse which is good and a sufficient absence.
Suber believes that students have many chances, given that students can have up to ten tardies a quarter without severe punishment.
The school will monitor the tardies and absences through the attendance office, and Sullivan will check in on the attendance weekly. Families will be notified when students reach five and ten tardies.
“We understand that things can happen- bad weather, traffic, or even a car accident,” Suber said. “But students still need to make up the missed time. It’s about responsibility.”
Suppose students receive ten tardies in a quarter. In that case, they will receive a loss of good standing until a two-hour Saturday school is served, assigning a regular Saturday school, forfeiture of a flex pass for the remaining grading period, or consideration for loss of additional privileges beyond the quarter.
Mr. Sullivan received information from the high school’s attendance office, from which he recognized a problem with excessive tardiness in our high school. He then brought this issue and a solution to the attention of Mrs. Romano. Dr. Vincent Suber finalized these changes after the tardy policy was brought to Mrs. Romano.
He emphasized the importance of showing up on time because just showing up late creates distractions for other students and because, with the old policy, there were few punishments for excessive lateness.
Many teachers believe that this change will help students out with responsibility by giving them consequences for their actions. Some teachers also believe the changes may help out with academic performance.
“I think that the new policy will be effective over time when students are affected by the consequences of their tardies.” John Yaggi said, a history teacher at WHS. “There are times when tardies negatively affect academic performance, but that is not always the case. With that said, tardies never enhance a student’s academic performance.”
These changes were released to students during their winter break and went into effect on Jan. 7.
“I think the new tardy policy is fair because I have been late multiple times, and with the new tardy policies, it forces me to get to school on time rather than before when I could get away with being late a few times.” Senior Adriel Pardo said.
Sullivan believes the changes will benefit students’ futures since the policy enforces responsibility, being on time, and accountability.
“We want our young people to develop a sense of urgency around promptness,” Sullivan said. “The goal here is to make sure that our student body is the best version of itself… It starts with showing up.”