The recent crackdown on attendance began with a series of messages issued during advisory by West Po Principal, Ms. Statz. The announcements, which replayed frequently throughout the day, reminded West Po students of the importance of timely attendance. Assistant Principal Mr. Roberson says that the goal of the tardy sweeps is “to reduce hallway disruptions and to honor our instructional time, to respect learning.”
When looking for ways to improve the school, administration looked to the data. Statistics showed that tardies were/are a huge problem at school. In the first quarter, 251 students received some level of a tardy response. Tardy responses don’t begin until a student reaches more than 5 tardies per week. Of those students, 106 got at least one lunch detention and 32 got to the referral level.
The implementation of tardy sweeps has proven to be effective. On Feb. 23, there were 161 students caught in the tardy sweep. In the latest tardy sweep, March 20, 44 students were caught in the tardy sweep, a 72% decrease.
However, it’s worth mentioning that in the second quarter, the total number of students that were tardy was already down to 180, a 28% decrease from the first quarter, before the tardy sweeps were implemented strongly. Fifty-seven of those students were issued at least one lunch detention, and only 8 students got to the referral level.
Following the second quarter, the third quarter saw an increase in tardies, but a decrease overall from the first quarter. Third quarter tardies were down 8.4% compared to first quarter, from 251 to 230, and the number of students that got to referral level, which is usually a lunch detention, was down 25%, from 32 to 24.
Students caught during a tardy sweep must go to an ‘expectation reflection station’ commonly known as a ‘sweep station’, usually found in the cafeteria or the gym. If students have enough tardies, they will face consequences.
“The first time is a warning, the second time is a detention, the third time is a detention with a follow up with an administrator, and the fourth time is an in-school suspension,” Roberson stated. However, the consequences stop there and they will never reach out-of-school suspension. The reason for this is that tardy sweeps aim to increase instructional time and learning, and out-of-school suspension contradicts that goal.
Other schools like Hayfield and Mount Vernon, and even Carl Sandburg Middle School have tardy sweeps. Tardy sweeps have been performed at West Potomac in the past, but very sporadically. However, administration aims to increase the frequency of tardy sweeps to reduce the number of students loitering in the halls.
“It’s becoming a practice and we’re trying to at least do one a week. We would like to do more than that,” Roberson said. Administration also aims to have these weekly tardy sweeps occur during a variety of periods. The goal is to also have tardy sweeps occur during first period. There will be a thirty minute grace period, so students arriving at school before 8:30 will not be caught in a tardy sweep.
Junior Marcus Davis described his experience being caught in a tardy sweep during his 7th period, “I was right outside my class. And the reason I got caught is because my teacher saw me, and then he sent me down to the auditorium [to a sweep station]. It’s really messed up.”
He feels that the tardy sweeps could work for other people, despite his experience. “For the people who are out in the halls all the time just walking around, I feel like it makes more sense, but I was a bystander.” However, Davis feels as if the tardy sweep hasn’t deterred him from being tardy in the future. He stated, “I’m still pretty late to class. I was actually late to this class.”
Mr. Roberson wants students to realize that, “It’s not something to be punitive to students, but we want everyone to understand this is about teaching time management and about respecting our learning environments.” He continued on to say, “We expect everyone to honor that because the main purpose of coming to school is not only to graduate but to be present and engaged in classes.”
