In a welcome email to parents and students, principal Martel Price introduced Oakland Tech’s new tardy policy for the 2024 school year. In the email, Price stated that students with “three or more tardies per week” would be assigned detention. While the new policy is intended to reduce the “25% tardy increase” during the morning, many students have expressed that factors out of their control frequently hinder their ability to be on time in the mornings.
A large demographic of Tech students rely on public transit to get to school. The 51A is a prominent line that students take, though one which sees frequent delays. Isabella Sanfilippo, a Tech senior, has been taking the 51A since middle school, only recently has she started driving. “I would usually take the bus that came around 8:10, and a lot of the time the bus would be canceled, so… I’d have a lot of tardies on the board,” she says.
On the days when her bus would get canceled, Isabella says she could often be stranded for 20 minutes or more. Despite communicating with teachers, she says there wasn’t a sense of understanding. “They’re blaming it on people’s personal issues, like ‘you should wake up earlier!’” she says, “it’s not in our control, so we can’t help it.”
In the morning in front of Tech, cars pile up, people are double parked, and moving at a glacial pace up and down Broadway Avenue. Juniors, newly bestowed with driver’s licenses anxiously weave through traffic, and Seniors muster the motivation to find parking instead of turning around and going back home. Hordes of students flood out of the 51A (if it came on time) and rush to the front doors before the bell rings.
Aliyah Romero, a senior, drives to school. She says the new attendance policy is “definitely a big inconvenience” because there are always things that are out of her control. She shares a car with her sister, and because of where she lives, there are times when she doesn’t have access to a mode of transportation.
Before she had a driver’s license, getting to school was even more difficult. “I don’t live in an area with access to public transportation. There are no walkable bus stops.” With no bus lines running in her area, there were times, she says, when she was entirely unable to attend school. Romero believes that the policy is “unrealistic” for students. “I have not had any understanding or exemptions from any teachers so far this year. I was super late to class once because of traffic and I sent pictures to my teacher and he didn’t even check the email.”
Karega Hart, a teacher on special assignment for attendance, says that the new policy addresses larger issues at Tech. Last year, Mr. Hart said that 20% of the student body was coming late during the first and second periods. “Our teachers complained a lot, it was definitely affecting student learning and their ability to get the best academic grade possible.” He says that statistics show the number of students showing up late has decreased by “about 48%” from last year since the policy came into effect.
The ultimate goal is a “50% decrease,” he says, and to “create a culture where everyone cares about being in class and respecting the work our teachers are doing.” Hart says that there are legitimate excuses for some students, but proper communication needs to follow when students are facing delays out of their control. Hart says that if students are dealing with bus delays or traffic, they should email their teacher explaining the situation, although their attendance will not be excused.