Riverside Brookfield High School has instituted a new student ID scanning system for marking students that are late for first hour. If a student walks in between 8 and 8:15 a.m. four days a week or 8:40 and 9 a.m.on late-start Thursdays, there is a tardy scanning desk set up by the new main entrance where their student ID will be scanned by a dean. The tardy is marked immediately in skyward, and the student receives a receipt as a hall pass.

David Mannon, the new Assistant Principal for Student Affairs says that tardy students, “are really affecting the instructional practices of our teacher because they are taking away time from teacher’s lessons.”

On Thursdays when school begins at 8:40 the additional time actually leads to additional tardiness it isn’t unusual for there to be over a hundred students late on Thursdays, because of the higher tardy numbers there can be an increased presence with Mannon, and potentially a local police officer at the door.

“It’s effective. We’re at 100 less tardies than we were last year,” Mannon said. “There is an expectation to get to class on time.” Students tend to have more trouble getting to school on time and being tardy for first hour compared to receiving tardies for periods 2 through 7.

The new emphasis on tardies is a part of the overall goal of having a higher attendance rate. This year the goal is 95 percent, which is about 3 percent more than last year’s rate.

“Our goal is 95 percent and that’s pretty attainable,” Mannon said.

Administration is trying to compare the overall attendance of all students in A, B, and C lunch per month and come up with some sort of incentive system for the lunch that has the most students that are present at school each month. Whether this is lunch on the lawn or music in the cafeteria, the whole idea is that students are rewarded for their engagement that comes with being at school on time and every day.

“We’re looking to incentivize and give back to kids that are doing good things,” Mannon said.  His goal for students to be more involved in the RB community, for more students to be “engaged in class, engaged in activities, engaged in clubs and sports. We’re looking to increase those numbers and our attendance. Those two things combined is our bulldog pride initiative.”

If a student doesn’t have their student ID with them at the main entrance, they are issued a lunch detention on the spot. Student IDs are required to be carried with students at all time.

There is another option for students who need to serve a lunch detention for having three tardies or for forgetting their student ID. Before, students could only serve a detention during lunch. Now students can serve a late-start detention at two different times, 7:40 to 8 a.m or 8 to 8:20 a.m. if that is more convenient for them. Detentions are a consequence of receiving three or more tardies. The goal for RB is for students to not need these consequences.

“There is an expectation for students to get to class on time. There is going to be that expectation in their careers and college it’s just one of those things. Let’s practice now.” said Mannon.