SHS is now operating under a new attendance policy as of this semester, according to assistant principal Mrs. Amy Boone. With the new attendance policy comes new conditions under which students will have a collective count of their tardies each day instead of the attendance office going by each individual class.

“Making (students) aware of attendance and trying to address whatever it is that is causing students not to be here so we can get students in class that’s what they are going to learn,” Boone said.

Last year, tardies were monitored by teachers, and were counted by each individual class, according to Boone. But the new attendance policy this year is monitored by students services and tardies are counted cumulatively.

Although the new attendance policy is working for many students, there are still some students that are having trouble getting to class and have already gone over the limit of tardies and unexcused absences.

“I think (administrators) have had more communication with students and parents, and then also I think this has helped to curve some behaviors that maybe weren’t being addressed before the policy was in place,” Boone said.

Junior Lexi Burton, said changing the attendance policy does not affect her personally because she is on time to class. Burton says she likes the changing of the attendance policy because she believes it will be helpful for her with being on time. But, she says it will also hurt other students’ attendance records.

“The changing of the attendance policy will make more people motivated,” said Burton.