McLean recently enforced tardy sweeps to prevent mass student tardiness—as soon as the bell rings, teachers are instructed to close their classroom doors, locking students out. Administrators then sweep the hallways for stragglers and punish students based on the amount of times they’ve been caught in a sweep.
“It becomes very disruptive when you have multiple students coming in 10 or 15 minutes late to class, because they lost a lot of instructional time,” Principal Raven Jones said. “We knew we needed to implement something to help students get to class on time until students get to a point where they’re able to do it on their own without tardy sweeps.”
Currently, McLean has only enforced one tardy sweep, which happened on Oct. 9 before Highlander Time.
“47 students were caught in the tardy sweep,” Jones said. “We started [the sweep] a bit late on purpose for kids to notice that it didn’t happen as soon as the bell rang the first time, because we wanted as many kids as possible to make it to class.”
Once students are caught in the sweep, administrators guide them to either the lecture hall or cafeteria. There, they receive consequences that vary based on the amount of tardy sweeps they’ve been caught in.
“The first time getting caught in a tardy sweep, we’re going to talk to you about why it’s important to come to class on time. The second time we’ll give you a warning, but we’ll also call your parents to talk about the importance of going to class on time,” Jones said. “The third time, [stricter] consequences will be applied.”
As motivation for students to arrive to class on time, the school will also be setting up a reward system for students who are keeping up with a good attendance.
“There will be positive behavior interventions and supports where each quarter will have two small events and one big event,” Jones said. “So if you’re not late to class, we can help you earn tickets to access those fun things that we’re going to start doing this year.”
Many students hold negative opinions towards this new system.
“The tardy sweeps are incredibly unnecessary,” junior Celina Lee said. “They provide no use for the school except just catching people in the hallways, which adds more work for the [staff].”
Tardy sweeps, in theory, are supposed to benefit teachers becuase students come in on time, but only one tardy sweep has occurred so far.
“I think it would be more effective if the tardy sweeps happen more often,” math teacher Adam Newburger said. “We haven’t had a lot, so I’m not sure how much it will truly help students.”
The school is determined to prevent more students from coming to class late.
“Consistency is the first key to making sure that they’re effective,” Jones said. “Education around the importance of being in class on time and the positive behavior systems will cut down the number of tardies we have.”
