Increasing tardies, unexcused absences result in punishments

Photo by Andrew Lin

Amid concerns about suddenly increasing tardiness and unexcused absences, the administration is considering assigning detentions and Saturday schools if the situation does not improve. 

Already, the administration has rolled out a community service program known as “Treasure Toga.” Students with more than 10 tardies can pick up garbage for after school on select days, with every 2 hours making up 10 tardies at a time.

As of Nov. 16, over 200 students, or 15% of students, have five or more unexcused tardies or three or more unexcused absences, an increase from 28 students in mid-October.

Assistant principal Brian Thompson said most tardies were given to students who were late to class after a passing period, as opposed to being late to their first class of the day. According to the administration, this is due to students standing around during passing periods and only heading to class at the last minute.

“Tardies, especially with 10-minute passing periods, really just are about our students not respecting their classmates, not respecting their teachers and not making it a priority to get to class on time,” Thompson said. 

Though principal Greg Louie is not an enthusiastic supporter of detentions, he “may not have a choice in the matter if students don’t improve their attendance.” When detentions are re-introduced, the administration will try to make them as inconvenient as possible, to encourage students to change their behaviors. This may include not allowing cell phone use and even prohibiting doing homework during detention. 

“If students don’t take the mature approach about getting to classes on time and making sure that absences are excused, we’re going to run out of options,” Louie said. “Ultimately, we’re trying to treat all our students like young adults.”