With the rise in snowdrifts, malfunctioning car parts, icy roads, and wintery illnesses, many NKHS students have been finding it increasingly difficult to get to school on time, or stay there, for that matter. Office policies have meandered their way into the spotlight this year in particular, as seniors and juniors who have fallen victim to the flu (or down their stairs on the way out the door) are finding it harder to find a viable “excuse” to get into the building.

Doctors’ notes are all of a sudden strictly required when it comes to an acceptable reason for an absence. Apparently, if a student neglects to get a note from their doctor, but comes into the “Student Management Office” with a cast clearly indicating their injury, that is not acceptable. The documentation policy is suddenly being strictly enforced, with minimal exceptions.

The staff of the Current Wave acknowledges that, naturally, the rules are in place to ensure both student learning and safety. However, we think that the policies in place ought to be viewed as flexible, and applicable on a case-to-case basis. Three tardies a quarter is an amount fair to students who live in a perfect universe where cars don’t break down, roads are always entirely clear, and illness is nonexistent. What, we ask, would happen to a student who is nearing their fourth tardy, and whose car won’t start in the morning? Detention? Surely this seems unfair and borderline unreasonable if the student can document their car’s malfunctions- after all, we live in the age of technology, but none of us can control all of our machinery.

In order to avoid a detention, due to coming in late for their fourth time, it might be smarter for said student to skip school altogether. After all, not attending school wouldn’t be a detriment to the student’s tardy record, in fact, it would be marked as simply as an absence. Is this effect of the staunch attendance rules something which the NKHS Administration wants to bargain? Our staff hardly thinks this is a safe risk to take.

Additionally, parental excuses for their child’s tardies seem to be suddenly inadequate. Apparantly, it has become the school’s duty to assume parental perogatives. We, the Current Wave staff, are deeply disturbed by the fact that merely the word of, mind you, a legal guardian or individual who is in control of their child’s well-being is being discredited by the office personell. A previously “exscused” abscense or tardy (that is, one which was preceeded by a parent calling their student in with an exscuse for their lateness) now seems to carry the same weight as one which is unexscused, seeing as the office staff won’t accept the parent’s mere word that their child was at the doctor, broken down in their car, etc. In this case, we ask, why should students who are attempting to be consiencious about their tardies even bother? If the word of the student’s parent or guardian isn’t considered worthy of the office’s high standard, then what is, and why should the student trouble their parents to even attempt calling them in?

Additionally, it’s borderline offensive that the staff of the office, rules or not, would think to discredit the word of a student’s parent or guardian. With the exception of a family death or accident, essentially, they seem to be under direction to assume that every parent’s word on the condition of their son or daughter is false. Surely, if the parents of NKHS students were to be told this directly by the offices, instead of it merely being implied by the denial of their calls, they’d be offended as well..

In light of the complaints adressed here, however, the Current Wave staff would like to make it clear that we know there are always people who can abuse any system, and that these people are who make the rules nessecary. These rules, however cumbersome, were instated for a reason, and that is to ensure the safety and well-being of students, and prepare them for the “real world”, where tardies without viable exscuses and random absences isn’t tolerated. This is not an argument we wish to dispute at all; the goals behind the rules in place is definitely clear. However, we feel that the policies should be a little less cut-and-dry, and that instead of a definitive detention if a student has an inconvenient doctor’s appointment or car troubles, there should be room for understanding of the “real world’s” random and unfortunate ways.