At Logan High, being tardy is about to get most costly

In an effort to keep students in class and out of the hallways, Logan High School implemented an extension to its truancy policy on Tuesday.

“With the original policy, we weren’t getting the headway we wanted or the attention from the students that we are serious about keeping them out of the hallways,” said Dan Cox, the Logan High School principal. “In the long run this policy saves them money and saves them from having to go to court.”

Logan High School has had difficulty keeping students in class and out of the halls, according to Erik Bates, an LHS science teacher. The new changes are intended to get their attention.

The initial policy stated that the school’s resource officer would issue a citation to students who were truant for thirty-five class periods. The student would then have to go to court to either appeal the citation or would pay a fine. The fine was $30 and would infinitely double each week until paid.

The revised policy allows the school administration to issue a ticket to any student who is in the hall during class without a pass or to students who have thirty-five unexcused absences. The student will be charged $15 on their first offense, $30 on their second and $45 for each additional offense.

Students may appeal the ticket within 14 days of issue. After a student receives a ticket, they will still be marked truant and be required to attend Saturday Credit Restoration School. If the fines are not paid, they will stay on their school fines account. The students are not allowed to graduate until all fines have been paid.

Advocates say the new policy will give students an incentive to stay in class. Detractors, say it will further hinder attendance.

“Kids are just going to drop out because they can’t afford it,” said Carmen Judd, a freshman at LHS.

Some teachers fear that the fines are going to deter students from coming to school at all if they know they will be late.

“I don’t think we should use negative reinforcement,” Bates said.

The Logan High School administration has yet to issue any tickets.

Kyndall Peterson, Jill Dean, Lauren Handy, Cambria VandeMerwe, Heather Foster, Aaron Griffiths and Paige Sjoblom contributed to this report.