LAKEVIEW — Hundreds of Lake View High School students have racked up first-period tardies since the beginning of the school year, Principal Scott Grens said.
So this month the new principal is launching a "Call Home Campaign."
Every Friday, first-period teachers will call home to every single student who was late that week, Grens said. The goal is to figure out why the teens are late and work on solutions.
"Tardiness is a big deal first period," the principal said at a recent local school council meeting. "It's the beginning of the year. I think students are getting used to going back.
"And I'll be honest — [ongoing construction on] Ashland is a disaster in the morning. It's a total disaster. I've taken the most bizarre routes to work in an attempt to avoid it. But that's still not an excuse."
Grens said on Sept. 9 alone, 202 of the school's 1,349 students were late. Since Lake View doesn't have a homeroom period before classes start, those teens are missing out on instruction in their first period.
Grens thinks part of the problem is the school's 8:30 a.m. start time.
It's one of the latest in the district, but it means students taking public transportation or getting rides to school are often thrown into rush-hour traffic.
"I think 8 a.m. would be a great time" to start school, Grens said. "I know it sounds miniscule. It's only half an hour. But it's a crucial half-hour."
But, Grens countered with a laugh, "if you ask any of the students, they'll say, 'But we already start so early.'"
Grens said the Lake View administration plans to hand out more in-school suspensions for students who are repeatedly late.
He also wants to foster friendly competition among grade levels with an incentive program. For instance, seniors could compete against juniors, and the class with the fewest tardies wins a prize. Grens said the details haven't been worked out yet.
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