Lafayette has adopted new tardy guidelines for the 2018-19 school year. On Aug. 16, this change was first announced to students through a video presentation that was shown in students’ respective 4th hour classes.

All tardies are counted cumulatively. Formerly, for the first two tardies, students received a verbal warning from their teachers, but now, for the first four tardies, students’ home will be contacted. On the fifth tardy, instead of an office referral and detention in the past years, parents will be called. Last year, students started receiving In School Suspension (ISS) from their sixth tardy, but with the new change, students will receive one hour detentions for each tardy they get until the tenth tardy.

After the tenth tardy, consequences increase in severity with the new guideline. Students will get ISS for one day on the 11th tardy. From their 12 to 15 tardies, students will be in ISS during the hour in which the tardy occurred.

On their 16th tardy, a student should expect an Out of School Suspension (OSS). Each students’ after school privileges, games and dances will be revoked and parking pass will be pulled for 20 days. Regarding 17 tarties or more, students will get another ISS or OSS or Student Restore Program (SRP). SRP is a special program designed for students where an administrator and a student can explore different solutions to time management together.

With these changes, teachers and administrators hope to see the number of tardies decrease.

Calcaterra said, “We don’t want kids to be tardy. You can’t be late for life. In order for them to learn the life skills now, we need to take tardies more seriously.”

Junior Malayka Walton understands the purpose of the new policy guidelines but thinks that new change can overlook problems that often make students late to their classes.

“I think it can be kind of unfair because some people actually have to be late sometimes because of external problems like if they have to use a bathroom and people are vaping in there. Something like that sometimes makes it harder to get in class on time,” Walton said.