At Jackson-Reed, no matter what time students enter the classroom, there are no official consequences for being late. While the lack of a tardiness policy has advantages for students, both students and staff recognize that this absence poses challenges as well.
Senior Liam Floman said that he “[doesn’t think the policy] is conducive to a good learning environment, but at the same time it’s great for students to take advantage of.” At JR, as long as students are in class for some portion of the period, they are marked present. This suggests that “kids can abuse the system and jump in at the last minute of class,” senior Jake Hamilton pointed out.
Not only is coming in late disruptive to students, it is particularly frustrating to teachers. Math teacher Elana Horowitz stressed that, “[she] cannot reteach each student who comes in late when they are the ones who missed instruction. I think that catching up should be on the student who was late, not on me.” English teacher Charles Preacher added that tardiness is particularly discouraging “if it impacts how the lesson is structured,” in regards to group projects and other collaborative assignments.
Implementing and even homogenizing consequences for tardiness lacks a straightforward solution. It is especially difficult as teachers have varying policies, which can range from allowing a grace period, to not taking attendance until the end of class, or just simply marking late students as tardy. Freshman Grey Fischer remarked that “the forgiving approach is helpful as well because sometimes [her] classes are far apart or [she] had to speak with a teacher or administrator and certain teachers’ rude nature and annoying attitudes can be frustrating when they demand a pass after missing only a few minutes of class time.” As to who should enforce tardiness measures, Horowitz stated that “all community members, including teachers, deans, and parents/guardians should hold students accountable for late arrival.”
While there is not a school-wide measure to penalize students, Preacher said “a consequence does manifest in poor grades because students just miss so much of class that they’re sort of clueless on how things go.” On the other hand, the revision policy provides a margin for tardy students. “[Students] can theoretically not go to a single full class and still get a B, because they can just retake the tests [and assignments],” senior Colette Bernards observed.
DCPS’s policy significantly differs from other schools and districts. In Montgomery County Public Schools, three unexcused tardies in each quarter will result in an after-school detention assigned by the grade level administrator. Comparably, at St. John’s, five tardies automatically guarantee detention, but some teachers give detention on the first offense. Conversely, teachers at JR are not allowed to give any type of consequence.
Before COVID, JR teachers were allowed to enforce punishment through a student’s grade, but this has changed in recent years. “The difference before the pandemic was that teachers had more latitude with student’s grades. For example, if a student missed the do-now, they couldn’t make it up if they show up late. We can’t use grade-based consequences, or we’re not supposed to, anymore,” Preacher clarified.
DCPS “seeks to become an anti-racist school district that is trauma-responsive and aligned to a whole-child approach that supports educators in meeting each child’s individual and holistic needs,” according to the DCPS 2022-23 school year Attendance and Truancy Policy. While this statement doesn’t mention tardiness, it is interesting to evaluate whether this outlook also extends to the issue of late arrivals.
