New Late Policy For the New Year
New year, new policy! Starting January 6th, MCPS now requires schools to station kiosks around the school for students to get a pass before heading to class. If youβre caught without a pass, youβll head to one of those stations and scan either a digital QR code located in Student Vue or your school ID if itβs on you.
The kiosks on the first floor are located in front of the staircase in the D hallway, as well as the spiral staircase. Kiosks on the second floor will be located at the A and D intersection and in front of the media center. Teachers will lock their doors at the bell and can no longer let students in unless they have a pass. Enforcing this, however, will be an issue. So far, not many teachers have been doing it.
If a teacher holds a student back, itβs recommended that they write a pass or give the student an online pass instead of sending an email. Without one, security wonβt know if the student is excused. This has raised some concerns when there are more than 10 students. Lunch rehearsals are a great example, as usually there are 30+ students. Sending out an email is much quicker than giving everyone a pass.
On the first day, there was some trouble. Five minutes after the bell, students were confused, complaining to security, having issues with their phones, and oftentimes going to class without getting a pass at all. Issues with technology exacerbate tardiness. For example, some students took just over 10 minutes to get a pass due to having issues with their StudentVue login.
Even though there were some issues, a senior, Bethel Betsuamlak, felt that itβs a good way to get students to go to class.βI like it so far, and I know itβs just the first day, but I like it. I like how thereβs different kiosks.β The only problem is how time-consuming it is, as the lines can become extremely long. Kyla Dunn, a sophomore, agrees that it is time-consuming. βIt gives the security guards more work, and they can use that time on more important stuff.β
Teachers like Ms. Cheung feel that since it signs them in at a certain time, βIt doesnβt mean that they actually show up to my class at that time,β which creates more work for her to go in and change it. In contrast, feeling optimistic, Mr. Edwards stated, βWe donβt think itβs going to solve all of the problems, but we think itβs gonna solve one of the biggest problems and thatβs having a lot of people in the halls late into the period.β
For now, tardy passes seem to be effective; hopefully, the new year will bring new punctuality into Blakeβs halls.
The kiosks on the first floor are located in front of the staircase in the D hallway, as well as the spiral staircase. Kiosks on the second floor will be located at the A and D intersection and in front of the media center. Teachers will lock their doors at the bell and can no longer let students in unless they have a pass. Enforcing this, however, will be an issue. So far, not many teachers have been doing it.
If a teacher holds a student back, itβs recommended that they write a pass or give the student an online pass instead of sending an email. Without one, security wonβt know if the student is excused. This has raised some concerns when there are more than 10 students. Lunch rehearsals are a great example, as usually there are 30+ students. Sending out an email is much quicker than giving everyone a pass.
On the first day, there was some trouble. Five minutes after the bell, students were confused, complaining to security, having issues with their phones, and oftentimes going to class without getting a pass at all. Issues with technology exacerbate tardiness. For example, some students took just over 10 minutes to get a pass due to having issues with their StudentVue login.
Even though there were some issues, a senior, Bethel Betsuamlak, felt that itβs a good way to get students to go to class.βI like it so far, and I know itβs just the first day, but I like it. I like how thereβs different kiosks.β The only problem is how time-consuming it is, as the lines can become extremely long. Kyla Dunn, a sophomore, agrees that it is time-consuming. βIt gives the security guards more work, and they can use that time on more important stuff.β
Teachers like Ms. Cheung feel that since it signs them in at a certain time, βIt doesnβt mean that they actually show up to my class at that time,β which creates more work for her to go in and change it. In contrast, feeling optimistic, Mr. Edwards stated, βWe donβt think itβs going to solve all of the problems, but we think itβs gonna solve one of the biggest problems and thatβs having a lot of people in the halls late into the period.β
For now, tardy passes seem to be effective; hopefully, the new year will bring new punctuality into Blakeβs halls.
