Caught in traffic, woke up late, snoozed alarm, long line at fast food. These are many excuses for why students at Lakeland High School are tardy.
Lakeland has had 1,128 tardies since the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.
Being late may seem like no big deal to some and for others, it may feel like the end of the world. Walking in late can be humbling. The whole class watches as you turn in your tardy slip into the teacher and sit down at your desk. People then bombard you with questions as to why you were late.
It could be a one-time thing or a weekly occurrence but eventually, tardies build up and can result in lunch detention.
Every student is permitted two tardies to each class period but the third one results in two lunch detentions.
If a fourth tardy occurs then three additional lunch detentions are administered, then after four, it becomes five.
“We want students to be present in class and also not disrupt other students’ education by coming in late,” assistant principal Shannon Lafountaine said.
Students end up missing school work when they have tardies and it affects their grades. Their missing assignments get entered as missing assignments and are marked as zeros in the grade book. This may be made up if the teacher allows so, but it typically has to be done outside of class time.
“I have had a lot of missing assignments and my grades have dropped because of my tardies,” Asher Drake said.
Excused tardies, however, do not count toward these tardies. Things that are scheduled ahead of time like appointments can be marked as excused.
Being punctual is a habit that schools want to instill in their students because it is important for things like jobs or meetings that students will have to be on time for.
Don’t be late.
