Students at Revere High School receive a detention after two tardies to any class before and throughout the school day. This detention, a thirty minute punishment before or after school, could cause issues with student whether he or she need a parent to pick him or her up or drop him or her off, or if a student has a prior commitment.

Perhaps instead of getting the same punishment for being ten seconds late to school and thirty minutes late, there could be an alternative.

These students who reach class ten seconds late have no motivation to rush, as they will receive the same punishment as those who take a few minutes to reach a classroom. They, at this point, could go and sit outside their class for the next twenty minutes without further punishment.

“I like the system we have now for a couple of reasons. One is that it is consistent in that whether you are tardy no matter how late you are, you are late. It is kinda like you are pregnant, or not pregnant– there is no in between. That is consistent across the board to make sure people are on time. [Another reason is] I am a firm believer in people being responsible. I am also a firm believer in people being respectful of others and their time. . . . I hope that when a doctor tells me I’m having surgery at 11 o’clock that he or she does not show up at noon,” King said.

One alternative the staff has created is to accumulate the minutes a student is late, and get a detention after, say, five minutes of being late; so, even though a student could be late more days, overall they have more incentive to get to class in a timely fashion.

Although drilling into young adults that timeliness has value is important, some tardies are out of the student’s control. Students also are not always responsible for tardies also as they could have a late ride, their route could include fast stoplights and the weather. If serious issues arise, King will further look into changing the long-standing policy.

“That’s what I do– if there is an issue brought to my attention by staff members or students, I’ll look into it. If there is a need to look and review then I am more than happy to do that and I am not opposed if there is a need in our building. It does not mean we will change it, but I do not mind reviewing it,” King said.

The policy should seek to contain some level of differentiation between a ten second tardy or a thirty minute one.