When the clock strikes 7:38am, students should be making their way to their first period classes.
By 7:42 they’re expected to be at their desks and ready to learn. However, often a student will be strolling into class a few minutes behind, disrupting the flow of the class and requiring the day’s instructions to be repeated.
Due to the recent extreme number of students pouring through the doors after 7:42, the school
Principals have put a new policy into place. Once they are declared tardy, a student must go into the office and get a pass from Assistant Principal Mr. Joseph Celia. When that is handed to their teacher, they will be marked late in Aspen. If a student has three unexcused tardies, they receive a detention. Teachers are also encouraged to shut their door at 7:42, to enforce the teens to beat the bell.
But perhaps there is more to the tardy epidemic taking over Triton than teenagers merely being lazy.
Other than using punishment as an incentive, there could be some degree of support given to the students. The responsibility belongs to all. So, why are so many students late, and how can the school assist them in improving their attendance? This has been an issue in many local high schools. However, not many people have dove into the true reasonings behind the actions.
After interviewing multiple students, it seems the two most common reasons behind their tardiness are sleeping in too late and the traffic outside of the school.
“I usually end up sleeping in,” said senior Beckham Zizza.
“I always think I’m gonna be on time, then parking takes forever,” said senior, Luke Sullivan.
At around 7:30 am, the line of cars outside of the school stretches from the top of Elm street all the way to the backlot. So, even if a student arrives 10 minutes early, they have to wait in the line, park their car, and make it into the building.
“I live 20 minutes away, [so] how is it fair that I have to leave at 7:00 a.m.? I don’t even drive myself either. It’s not my fault if I’m late,” said junior Peighton Hertigan.
Sleeping in may not be the best excuse, however Hertigan and Sullivan make a point. Although, making an exception for one student would require exceptions for them all, and who’s to know they’re not lying to avoid detention?
“Unless the tardy is excused by a parent then it is an unexcused tardy and would count towards the monthly count,” said Celia.
Celia explained that situations like Hertigan and Sullivan described are why the three-strike rule exists. If you know you’re going to hit the school traffic at 7:30, leave five minutes earlier. Hopefully, you’ll get your routine down before you hit your third strike.
“For the most part, it’s the same group of kids that just aren’t getting out of bed,” said Celia.
The consequences sound fair and effective in theory, but teenagers are creatures of habits. Many of them don’t plan to alter their behaviors even if detention is threatened against them.
“I haven’t really noticed any differences but I think it’s a fair punishment, and getting their parking spots taken away after six tardies is definitely more effective,” said Mrs. Jillian Lewis, social studies teacher.
Lewis explained that there isn’t going to be something that can really help because people will always be late no matter what.
Although, she did point out that if the new school is built, sooner or later the parking situation could be fixed which would mean less morning traffic.
Lewis also clarified that she doesn’t get frustrated when students are late for the first period because she understands, however throughout the day she gets more irritated when students are late. At that point it becomes about disrespect instead of genuine excuses.
“I haven’t noticed a difference (in tardiness improving), they seemed to be pretty consistent”, said Mrs. Lewis after being asked about tardies since the new policy has been set in place.
She explained that there isn’t going to be something that can really help because people will always be late no matter what. She did have an idea that maybe when we get the new school, parking situations could be improved and less traffic would be more effective to being on time. Lewis stated that she doesn’t get frustrated when students are late for the first period because she understands, but throughout the day she gets more irritated when students are late. When asked about the detention system, Lewis says,
“I haven’t really noticed any differences and I think it’s a fair punishment, but getting their parking spots taken away after 6 tardies is definitely more effective”.
“I think the detention system is a good step in getting students to be here on time, but I would have to see numbers to determine whether or not it’s making a difference”, says Triton journalism teacher James Allen.
Many students debate whether having to get a pass is unnecessary and makes you even later than before, when asked if Allen agreed, he explained that it does make them late but it’s a part of a natural consequence of them being late in the first place. He thinks 3 strikes against you is more than generous and when students know there’s a consequence, it leads to better behavior.
Whether the detention system has been working or not has been a highly debated topic, while interviewing students and faculty, we received a variety of different answers.
“The detention system has not been working at all. I think very broadly whoever is running detention doesn’t have a clear outcome of what they want detention to achieve”, stated Tyler Jacobs, a Triton alumni and instructional aide.
“Thinking back as a student, I think those things would have incentivised me enough to show up to school on time everyday but then again, I had to show up on time because if I didn’t then I would have automatically gotten detention due to my extracurricular activities”
“When he attended Triton High School he believed that they took detention a lot more seriously but now the detentions just make kids sit there for 20 minutes and do their homework, and it’s not really a consequence,” he said.
In numerical terms, on an average day about 25 students are tardy and have to get a pass. On February 3, 2025 there were 43 recorded tardies, which is an outstanding amount. A majority of these students are frequently late leaving them with detentions or even other punishments, a lot of these students will blame the traffic out front, their ride, or their own desires to sleep in and get Dunkin Donuts. Despite the variety of these excuses they all resulted in the same outcome and are penalized accordingly.
