As the 2020-2021 school year begins, the new administrative team implements a new tardy system in order to reduce the amount of student tardies. In previous years, teachers repeatedly paused their instruction for students who arrived late, but endured no visible consequence for their lateness. This year, a new tardy system called “Tardy Eliminator” that tracks student tardies for a whole semester and only allows two tardies to accrue before assigning the first level of consequence. Though the idea holds students more accountable, the consequences seem extreme compared to our previous school year and current circumstances.

Students lacking the ability to manage their time in between classes need to make transition from one class to another in a timely manner more of a priority because the administrative team plans to stick with them. When asked about the major problems, teachers voiced their concerns for the first period latecomers. After the third tardy, administrators assign the late comer an hour of detention. After that, if a student continues to arrive late, the next consequence escalates to a day in ISS or Saturday school.

Some students find this new system ridiculous especially when a day starts off rough anyway. To the administrators, they want only to teach them responsibility, time management and the expectations of future employers. Employers look for reliable workers, and offer no hesitation in terminating a perpetually late employee. Though we all find the new system requires adjustment on our parts, the new campus principal, Dr. Jadie Matthew, says this system worked at four of his previous schools, bringing hope for normalcy and consistency to Decatur High School students.