In an attempt to reduce the number of tardies to school and class, Timber Creek administration has implemented a new system that allows administration staff to quickly enter information into a system that will track tardies on the school and student level. According to Timber Creek Principal Dr. Paduano, “This new system is in an effort to reduce pressure on teachers with regards to tardy enforcement.” This system brought more light to an apparent rampant problem at Timber Creek. The HERO system records the tardy data and keeps track of the number of tardies a student has. The first two tardies are warnings to students. The third tardy is a detention for the student. The fourth and fifth offense is a warning. The sixth offense is a detention and a seventh offense is a referral.
This new system will also allow parents to be notified when their child is tardy to a class. This policy seems to come in conjunction with Dr. Paduano’s goal to keep parents more informed. Earlier this year administration sent periodic calls home to parents of students with failing grades. Now she is tackling the tardy issue starting at home.
The HERO program is also a sort of relief program for teachers. Teacher were overwhelmed with keeping up with tardy policy. According to physics teacher, Corey Marks, “This new system will provide relief on teachers and hopefully effect a positive change on student behavior.” Students on the other hand have a different view of the HERO system. Many students believe it is useless, thinking that they will still find ways around the system. However, administration is remaining firm on the system and are employing various checkpoint locations to catch any students trying to sneak around.
