There are about 3 weeks left before the Winter Break which is the end of our Fall semester. I have been working closely with the assistant principal and attendance clerk since the beginning of school. The assistant principal has allowed me to visit with students regarding their tardiness and the reason for it, and also to issue detentions for those students who are tardy in excess of 2 times to any class during the semester. He still deals with the students who are tardy habitually, but does allow me to sit in on those meetings and see how he handles those students.
In proportion to the overall number of students we have, the number who have accumulated excess tardies is relatively small. I will total that number up at the end of the semester and share it here. The number of repeat offenders is very small. I have seen that most students realize that they are going to receive detentions for being tardy, and have realized that it is not worth the few minutes they have out of class. I had one student tell me when I visited with him that, "this is not like last year". I took that as a compliment and a sign that the action research plan I have created is having some influence on keeping students in class.
I have realized that some of the students are tardy because of their parents being late getting them to school and I feel bad that those students have to face consequences for their parents actions, but I think that this has to be done to make the system fair and equitable for all. If we made exceptions for these students, then all students would be using their parents as an excuse and take advantage of this. I am also somewhat surprised at the number of duties some of our students have in relation to taking care of siblings. Several students have told me they have to feed and clothe their little brother/sister who are below school age, and then take them to the babysitter or day care before coming to school.
I am looking forward to tabulating the data for this semester and visiting with faculty members and my administrators to see if we need to make any adjustments for the second semester.
