The Cyprus tardiness policy affects all students going to Cyprus High School and has been in effect for a little over 6 months now.   This policy has changed from before.

This policy introduced “On the Way” tickets, which give students that are more than 10 minutes late, five more minutes to get to class.  If not in class by the end of those five minutes, the teacher of that class has the option to give the student a 5-dollar truancy fine.  This policy has also removed the “Way Late” tardiness mark. Now, if you are more than 20 minutes late, you are marked as absent rather than way late. 

 This policy was put in place in response to the terrible effectiveness of the previous policy.  These new tardiness tickets have proven to be beneficial for teachers. Math teacher Kendra Swanson states,” I think this policy is very effective. The reminder ticket, in addition to the possible fine, really encourages students to get to class.” Teachers are extremely pleased with how it has gone this year, especially compared to last year’s mess.  Swanson states” It is really nice to not have tardy, way late, or a million different slips like last year.  This policy has especially helped students go to class more and something that encourages students to go to class is always good for teachers.”  

Students also think that this has helped their attendance a lot.  Cyprus student Austin McDonald states,” It has personally helped my attendance and has encouraged me to go to class because I want to be able to walk at graduation and I don’t really want to pay a 5-dollar fine.”  The possibility of a 5-dollar fine seems to kind of scare students into heading to class, thus, helping their attendance.

When asked whether the system needs to be changed, both students and teachers seemed to agree that no change is really needed.  “Nothing about the policy needs changing, the real change is needed in classroom dynamics, so students won’t want to skip or be late to classes,” stated McDonald after being asked if changes are needed.  “I wish we didn’t have to fine students and I wish they would come to class on their own without needing bad incentives to force them to go,”  Swanson states when asked the same question.  Both teachers and students seem to recognize that rules don’t need to be changed, just the way students see classes.  Rather than seeing class as this burden, both want students to see class as a good and fun thing and not a thing that they have to do.

This policy was put in place in August 2024 last year by the Administration. This system was actually designed and created by the administration, rather than buying or using some other computer system already created for it.  “It had its flaws at first, but with a few tweaks the Administration made this system almost perfect”, said Swanson when asked about how well the system works. In conclusion, the Cyprus Tardiness Policy has changed a lot from last year, and it seems to be for the good.  Different incentives were added, and this policy was designed more carefully than last year’s policy.  Both teachers and students don’t seem to mind this policy and both seem to see this as a good thing. Changes seem necessary, but this time it’s not the policy that needs changing.