12th grade AP US government. 1st period.
The bell rang. I finished the roll. As I passed out the day's assignment, one last girl darted in.
The rule is late students get sent to tardy sweep. And I will kick late kids out much of the time. I'm especially ruthless when the class is loud and difficult.
But these were seniors. Taking an AP class. Behavior was not an issue. Letting one tardy slide wasn't going to come back to bite me...
I finished passing out the papers and arrived at the open classroom door just as security pulled up in her little golf cart.
"Did a girl just come in here?"
The girl in question squeezed closer to the wall. She pleaded with her eyes. But it was out of my hands now. She had run afoul of school rules.
Reluctantly, she gathered her things.
Security, however, assumed she was being defiant. She threatened to take her to the office instead of just to tardy sweep. I explained that the girl was on her way. She was just packing up. But security seemed to think an office visit was warranted as they drove away.
Others in class protested the tardy sweep policy. I can see their point. But, I pointed out how corporate America frowns on tardiness.
Shortly thereafter someone got a text from the girl. Security didn't take her to the office. Instead, they went directly to tardy sweep. The students speculated that tears had probably been involved.
That seemed rather harsh anyway. Someone is taking their security duties a little too seriously.
ReplyDeleteOh the effect of tears :) You have to have a policy like the tardy sweep or kids would not even attempt to make it to class on time.
ReplyDeletebetty
Some wouldn't. That's true.
DeleteI agree with Alex. That seemed a little harsh.
ReplyDeleteEscorting her from class or threatening to take her to the office? Escorting her from class is normal. The office thing? Yeah, she was overreacting. But I've seen how defiant some of those kids are, and in that instance, she wouldn't have been.
DeleteI know my daughter's school is big enough that between some periods she just barely has time to make it, if all goes right. She's a Junior in all AP and Honors classes. You did all you could in the situation.
ReplyDeletewow.
ReplyDeleteYeah, well...
DeleteAh, the wonderful age in which schools need to have security.... sweet bejesus...
ReplyDeletePoor girl. That seems way too harsh for just being a little late. It also seem counterintuitive to send a student AWAY from class for not showing up on time.
ReplyDeleteYeh I always reckoned that the senior kids should be allowed a bit of slack. You never know what they have endured before getting to school.....
ReplyDeleteAnd it was an AP class. (Read: college level.)
DeleteI must admit that I don't "get" the American high school Tardy thing, multiple bells, running the hallways to make class?
ReplyDeleteMy current school is super strict, but I still have the autonomy to deal with issues as I see fit. Period 1, the roll has to be marked within 10 minutes of class starting (it is online, the whole school uses electronic eRolls), and once it is marked, anyone late you send to Sign In, but that isn't a discipline thing, they sign in and then come back to class, it is so we know who is on campus.
I try and stretch that morning roll mark till the last possible second, my building is as far from the lockers rooms as possible and still be on campus, so if a bus comes in right on bell time, it can take them that full 10 minutes to get from the bus bay, to their lockers to me.
But the rest of the day, we can use our discretion. Sometimes I might send a kid back for a note from the previous teacher (if I didn't get an email), but my seniors, unless something is seriously awry, I just mark them as in class and it is their problem to catch up on the work.
But then I don't even give toilet passes anymore, if a kid needs to pee, they go and pee, I am training them to be functional members of society, I have yet to have a kid abuse this.
Our buses are frequently late. The kiddos get passes for that, and are allowed in class. In fact, there are ways to get allowed in if a student is late, depending.
DeleteYes, I think there should be a leeway of some minutes after the bell rings. The girl was in the classroom, not out in the hallway.
ReplyDeleteRules are rules. We'd have far less problems is they always made them suffer the consequences. If they seem too harsh, next time she'll not be tardy. I'm old school!!
ReplyDeleteI don't think in her case it was an issue. There are others, however...
DeleteGosh. Sounds like a dictatorship. Mind you, give them an inch and they'll take a mile. Best to be consistent I guess.
ReplyDeleteYeah, well, there are instances where this policy works great. Just not in this instance.
DeleteThat seems a bit ridiculous. I can see if she was ages late but if she was obviously trying to get there...meh.
ReplyDeleteAww! I feel so bad for the girl. Sometimes you are late and it's out of your control. Or you are just having a bad day. I applaud you for trying to keep her out of trouble and I think it's absolutely silly that somebody would have to come by "and check". Can't they just trust that the teachers/subs know what they are doing? It's not worth the trouble! I know if I had been in the girl's situation, I would have cried, but I always felt awful for getting into trouble. :(
ReplyDeleteThat just happened to be the luck of the draw. They don't usually "check". Security saw her enter class late. Otherwise, she would have gotten away with it.
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