Students Say The New Tardy Policy Is Unfair
May 1, 2022
Over the 2021-2022 school year, Gloucester High School has implemented many new rules and regulations for their students and staff. Several weeks ago, it was announced to teachers that if a student was tardy to class more than four times the teacher could write a referral on the student. This could result in out of school suspensions for multiple offenses. How do students in Gloucester High School feel about being so greatly affected by this new rule?
From not knowing about the tardy policy to suddenly having a tardy used against you, many students feel overwhelmed and extremely rushed during the allotted 5 minutes to get to their next class.
Over the year and a half quarantine period, school administrators acted as if a tardy policy didn’t exist. Additionally, for freshmen and new students, when school was back to “normal,” they didn’t know about the tardy policy of the previous years. According to multiple sophomores, many of their tardies were from the beginning of the school year when they weren’t sure how the policy worked.
“This is not okay to me because people have classes on two different sides of the school and hallways get too crowded. People also walk so slow. Third period on A days I have a class in D hall, then I have to walk to the back of the other side of the school in A hall to Spanish,” says sophomore Kayleigh Ramsay.
Hallways being crowded and people walking slow are common concerns to many current students. Gloucester only has one high school, which is known for being overwhelmingly full at all times during the school day.
“I don’t like it. I try to get to class on time , but I have to go from A hall to D hall. If I don’t pack up on time, then I am tardy. Sometimes my teacher holds me longer than the bell, which does not help. I hate the policy. I can’t get passes every single day. If they want to continue the policy, then I hope they add another minute or so to the class change,” explains another sophomore Kaia Hutton.
One other complaint about the new rule is the amount of time given in class change. Currently, Gloucester high school students are given five minutes to pack up and get to their next class. To some, that is enough time, and to others it is not.
Many people have varying opinions on the new tardy rule and its effectiveness. The majority, however, agree, this new rule is neither effective nor necessary.
