At Middle Creek High School, a new tardy system has been implemented to help kids be more on time for their classes. As Assistant Principal Mrs. McCaskill puts it, the tardy system exists “so that we can help students and guide them to class on time so that they will not be late to class and need a note.”
Mrs. McCaskill is an administrator and former teacher at Middle Creek High School. She is all for this system, as she says it can help with student safety and decrease students wandering around in the hall. When asked if this new system would carry any negative effects, Mrs.McCaskill says, “No, because I feel like it gives students grace. I might catch a student on their first time being late but for this, you have to get five before you get any sort of consequence.” She also disagrees with the idea that this new system could lead to more students skipping class just due to the fact that they are unable to get into their classes.
Mrs. McCaskill claims, “I trust my students and know that they are smart enough to know not to skip and that they know that they should be in class and that it ultimately affects your grades.” To her, the system seems to be working, and for the first time, she says she sees students running to class.
While this system may seem good for teachers, there are students who argue about the helpfulness of this newly implemented approach. Anna Sainsbury, a sophomore, claims that the tardies make her stressed out. “I don't like the tardy sweeps. They make me stressed out from having to go from the main building to the trailers.” When asked about how she believes other students feel about the new system, she says that she believes that they are also stressed out from the whole ordeal.
Cynthia Eluhu, another sophomore at Middle Creek,agrees with Anna. “I don't like the new tardies. I feel like students should be given more time to get to their classes.”
However, not all students feel this way about this new system. Take Nora Anderson, who is a sophomore at Middle Creek High School, for example, who claims that she doesn't have a problem with the new system because she usually doesn't have a problem with getting to class on time. When asked about how she thinks her fellow peers feel about the tardy sweeps, her response was, “All of my friends are usually to class on time, but I can imagine that for those who get to class late, it must be really annoying since they are missing out on class time.” When asked about her solution for tardiness, she said, “I think they just need to walk faster to class.”
The opinions over the tardy sweeps are both mixed and divided, but it is still important to remember that this system isn't necessarily a permanent one and that more change could come in the future.