Attendance policies are created to keep students going to school consistently, prepare students for the future, create good habits, and keep students engaged and learning. While schools are trying to keep consistent attendance, they also fail to recognize the reality of students’ lives out of school. Possibly having an illness, family-related issues, or a lack of transportation is treated on the same scale as a student simply skipping school.  

Recently I was driving to school, but there was a bad accident on my way there. I knew I was already running late to school and with the accident there was no way I was going to make it to school on time. When I finally walked into school, there was unfortunately a line. By the time I got to the attendance desk it was around 8:08. The ladies at the attendance desk told me that since it was past 8:05 my tardiness would count as a full day of missing school and would count towards the 10 days of absence we are allowed per year. Since I was late to school that day, it counted as a full day of my being gone and resulted in my going past 10 days of absence later in the year. 

I see where the attendance is trying to get people to come to school, but I think it’s very unfair to students when something could possibly happen on the way to school, and you have to come late which ends up counting as a full day of school.

Students who have to leave early for whatever reason are also affected. I understand the policy completely, but I think they should show more compassion and understanding to students who cannot control how or when they come to school. I also think they should add a new modification where they add 0.5 parts of days for students who come late, so if you come in late and leave early, those combined can count as one full day.