We started this petition as a project for change we’d like to see in our school. The way The Tardy Room functions at Tennessee High does not make sense and it needs reform in order to function more efficiently. We think that either the Tardy Room should be abolished altogether or that it should only be for students who skip class and not those who are late to school during 1st period. 

1. Punishing the Students Unnecessarily:
Although being tardy is not good, it usually isn’t the student’s fault that they are late. Half of the students are unable to drive themselves to school. Most are driven by their parents. Even some upperclassmen cannot drive. They can get up as early as they want, but the person driving them may be responsible for their lateness. It can be the student's fault, but it’s unfair to punish them for this by making them miss class. There may be heavy traffic or weather conditions or any kind of emergency, but they’ll still be punished by being sent to the Tardy Room on their first try. From the times I’ve been in the tardy room, it has been almost entirely underclassmen who cannot drive themselves. 
It’s hard for me to get to school in the mornings because of health issues. I’m sure this is the case for other students as well. Why should I have to miss the entire class period because I come to school 15 minutes late? I’m not saying I shouldn’t get punished at all, but getting half of the notes is better than getting none. 

2. The Punishment Does More Harm than Good
Why should we punish students who are late to class by.. Making them miss the entire class period? This doesn’t make any sense. Especially in classes like math, where if you miss something, you might be missing the building blocks for the next lesson. Usually math classes don’t use online materials, so there isn’t anything for you to look back on to help you if you missed it. It isn’t as simple as getting a friend in the class to explain the concept to you, because you might not know anyone in the class. 
When you’re in the Tardy Room, you’re asked to work on what you’re missing in class. But how are you supposed to know what’s going on when none of it is posted on Canvas? Math is taught in-person, and so are history and science classes. Classes such as ACT Prep don’t even have a course on Canvas, so you can’t work on anything even if you wanted to. You could be missing an important assignment or a test, and you’ll be much more behind the rest of the class. Even if you make it up yourself in homeroom, you wouldn’t have had to make it up if you didn’t miss class in the first place. For some people, the difference is only a few minutes. A kid in our class showed up mid-announcements and our teacher sent him to the Tardy Room. When he hadn’t even missed any of the class yet!
You just miss valuable class time even if you’re only a few minutes late to class. Students should be given the opportunity to learn just as much as everyone else is. 

3. It’s already being abused
What happens if you have a test in first period and you don’t want to take it? Simply, come late to school and you won’t have to take it! That’s just what the Tardy Room is allowing you to do. You’ll get the entire period to study and be able to take it during homeroom or another period. How is this fair to other students who don’t get the extra time to study?

4. You don’t even do anything in there
When you enter the Tardy Room, you’re instructed to put away your phone and work on classwork for first period (which isn’t even possible in most cases). Most people sit there and stare at their screen or watch Youtube videos the entire class period. And I would rather be in class than just sitting there and doing nothing the entire time. 

As you can see, the Tardy Room needs reform. We think a solution to this problem is to abolish the Tardy Room. It simply does not make sense to punish students who are missing class, by giving them an opportunity to miss even more class. Although, we can’t not do anything at all. So at the very least, it needs a reform. We think that it should only be for students who are skipping class and not for those who are late. 

If you agree with us, you should sign this petition with your name so that we can submit it to the school board along with a letter.