Imagine having your next class on the other side of the school, and as you are running down the halls in an attempt not to be late, suddenly the bell rings. You are now late and have reached your sixth tardy which will now equal an absence.

According to the James Bowie High School Student/Parent Handbook, any grade level from kindergarten through grade 12 may not be given credit or a final grade for a class unless the student is in attendance for at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered. This means that in a class you can only miss two days, unexcused, each semester in order to be counted as present for at least 90 percent of the class. 

Being late to a class in some cases can be inevitable, in which case a student should not be at fault for. Tardies can be caused by so many things one cannot control. For instance traffic, no ride, family emergency, or getting lost in a big campus. In my opinion these are all reasons a tardy should not count against the six limit.

Being late to a class by a couple minutes is a foul reason to mark someone as tardy.  In the case that the tardy was caused by something uncontrollable, that teaches the student nothing. 

However I do understand the problem in which the tardies are intentional. I believe that if a student is intentionally being really late to class with no valid excuse the student should be held accountable. In a situation like that I would understand the reason for the tardy. 

Then again what is a way we can hold those students that are intentionally being late accountable? One way could be making students have excused tardies, and explaining to the teacher why they are late, and have the teachers decide if the excuse is valid enough to be excused. 

Another possible solution could be extending the passing periods by another minute or two so that  students have more time to get to their classes. 

Finally, another possible solution could be changing the rules to allow for more tardies before they turn into an absence. 

Overall, being tardy to a class happens to everyone. It is something very minimal, so should be treated as one. This means that there shouldn’t be such a harsh consequence for being late to a class. In some specific situations, issuing a tardy is very unfair, and in the end some tardies should not add up to an absence, because that will do no good.