With prompt attendance valued on campus, Seminole High school administration has implicated a new policy to ensure students are in class on time. Beginning this semester, the “Tardy Lockout” system, a system requiring students to arrive to class on time, will take place. Tardiness to class will result in consequences from Lunch Detentions to Saturday School, or the possible revocation of senior privileges.

The objective of this new system is to decrease the number of students who are late to class. This is similar to a previously used tardy policy known as Tardy Hero, an automated system that assigned consequences to tardy students. Once the final bell rings, students are expected to be in class unless they have a signed pass from a teacher. If they are not present, students will be sent to the front office, and  administration will handle the situation, assigning any consequences they deem necessary.

“I was late to class because I had to stop by my locker and when the bell rang, administrators stopped me from getting to my class and told me to go to the office,” said junior Nick Jaffe. “When I got to the office, they were reasonable about it and told me that I just had to do detention and nothing else would happen. I was told to make sure I was going to class on time in the future, but I feel like I should’ve gotten a warning since it was my first time being tardy.” 

Although many students may find this new rule unnecessary, Seminole administration has implicated this policy to improve attendance on campus. With everyone arriving  to class on time, this new policy helps ensure that all students are accounted for. By receiving consequences for being late, administration hopes students will be motivated to get to class faster, as they will not want to stay after school or come in over the weekend. The administration has also been enforcing punctuality to class to prevent students who are at risk of credit denial. When students are tardy to class and it is marked in the attendance, every two tardy marks count as an absence, and nine absences will result in credit denial in the class.

“I think it’s going to have a positive impact on the school, in the long run, to help attendance improve,” said our principal, Jordan Rodriguez. “Anytime you make a decision like this, it will be unpopular with some folks; but realistically, parents have been very supportive, and the majority of the students don’t want to get detention, so we have seen a decreasing amount of tardy marks.”

As the school year continues, tardy lockouts will remain effective, ensuring that students are in the right place at the right time, securing their education.