Utah schools tackles tardies with fines, detention, holding up graduation

SALT LAKE CITY — As Utah high schoolers transition from an unstructured summer to a school life governed by bells, it's not uncommon to see teenagers frantically racing down halls to get to class on time.

The consequences for not making it to class on time vary from school to school, with some more strict than others. But, administrators agree not tackling tardiness has  consequences that can reach beyond the classroom.

"If they're not in class on time, learning, then where are they?" said East High School Principal Paul Sagers. "That's where you have your school violations, that's where you have your fights."

There is no state law or State Board of Education rule that details how schools should deal with less than prompt students. Carol Lear, director of law and legislation at the State Office of Education, said there is a state legal precedent that discourages schools from tying attendance to an academic grades. That means students who do well in a class shouldn't have their tardies in that class count against their grade without a way for them to make it up.

"Those kind of attendance-related issues … should not be a part of the academic grade," Lear said of the precedent.

But that doesn't mean schools have no recourse when it comes to perpetually late students. Tardiness is disruptive to the learning environment, and schools need to have leverage in order to discourage it, Sagers said.

Last year, East implemented a fine system for students who don't clear up their tardies through detention.

School administrators "sweep the halls" walking through the school's four stories a few minutes after the tardy bell rings between every class. Students still in the hall are rounded up and issued citations, which can be worked off by attending one after school detention. Students who fail to make it up within a certain time period are fined $5.

Once the school implemented the new policy, the change was remarkable, Sagers said. "We had parents calling in saying 'my goodness my kids are rushing me out the door.'"

Lear said that while tardies aren't supposed to be tied to academic grades, schools can have graduation requirements that hinge on things like attendance and behavior.