New U-46 tardy policy focuses on changing behaviors

While school districts across the country have taken to hitting students in their wallets for being late or absent, Elgin Area School District U-46 is trying another tack: incentives that encourage students to go to class and get there on time.

In the past, high school students who were habitually tardy or truant received no credit for the classes they missed. But that system failed to address the root cause for a student's lack of attendance, U-46 Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education Greg Walker said.

“This year, we are looking at the attendance policy from a behavioral standpoint instead of an academic one,” Walker said. “A student's performance in the classroom should affect their grades, not their behavior.”

Last year, Walker said, 295 students recorded no credit status for reaching the final step of the old policy. To gain the missed credits, students were required to take summer courses, which cost students $215 plus transportation fees.

The new policy, which went into effect at the start of the current school year, says that if a student is not in class when the bell rings, he is considered tardy. It's a five-step program that takes away certain student privileges the further a student progresses. Step one, which a student enters after three tardies, results in a phone call home. The ensuing steps range from lunch or study hall restrictions after six tardies, to a loss of all extracurricular activities such as school dances, clubs and sports after 13 tardies.

“We encourage students to actively participate in activities at school,” Walker said. “But as a student progresses through the system, they will no longer be able to participate in activities that kids enjoy,”

Meanwhile, a truant, which is defined as a student being absent for the entire class period without a valid excuse, will receive a phone call home after the first offense. After six or more truancies, the student loses rights to participate in all extracurricular activities.

And it seems to be working.

“Students are more conscientious about getting to class on time,” Streamwood High School Principal Jerry Cook said. “The hallways are virtually clear before the bell rings. Students are in class ready to learn.”

School districts in California and Utah have implemented fines, charging students $5 every time they are late. But Walker said engaging students in the classroom is more effective than punishing them.

“If I am in your class and at no credit, from a students' standpoint, what incentive is there for me to see you every day?” Walker said. “Our old attendance policy was hurting us more than it was helping us.”