A Glowing Review of the New Attendance Policy

So, you’re late for school. Hey, it’s no big deal! Whether you slept in or got stuck in traffic, Needham High’s accommodating attendance policy will have you calm and collected on your commute. You walk into class but aren't stressed because you’ve just received an absence for walking in 10 minutes late. How thoughtful of the administration to think of you! Now we can’t speak for everyone, but we sure love panicked phone calls from our parents asking why we were marked absent when they saw us head off to school. Even though you are physically present in your class, PowerSchool says you’re absent, so you must be absent. After assuring your parents that you are, in fact, at school, you check PowerSchool’s attendance record to see that this was your final unexcused absence and you will be losing credit. But hey, it makes perfect sense! It’s not like the school ever has flawed decision-making, right? You can’t help but smile when thinking about your credit loss. The amount of work and stress needed to make up the credits is nothing compared to the joy of knowing the administration has your best interests at heart…right? And even though you lost credit, you somehow have no tardies in PowerSchool because every time you were late, you were really just absent. It makes complete sense…just don’t ask us to explain it. In fact, the attendance policy is just too accommodating. I mean, really, they’re basically incentivizing us not to show up at all! Instead, I propose that if you’re more than 10 minutes late to school, not only should you be marked absent for the first class, but for every class! Needham High has its priorities straight: the attendance policy trumps everything else. So why don’t we just turn up the intensity? Not only will it make for better attendance, but it will make for happier students.