spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

my other niece was not accepted into a high school she applied recently b/c of excessive tardiness.

I felt sad for her b/c it's not her fault. she doesn't drive herself to school!!! her parents bring her. she had the awesome grades and all the extra curriculars. and not many absenses at all. but too many tardy's.

I just didn't think that was fair. High School I can see...but can kids control the parents? should kids pay for parents screw ups? is this common?

anyway, I just think it stinks. she worked so hard only to be rejected by something beyond her control.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Yes I think it should be held against them, and shame on the parents who are constantly bringing them late. I feel for her too.


Can she take the bus?

Message edited 2/2/2011 2:17:38 PM.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Yes, unfortunetly. But excessive lateness is also considered educatiinall neglect. Sad that none of the teachers orthe school never acted on that and kick the parents @sses in gear!

I do feel bad for you niece though

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

I think it depends why they were late. Did she wake up late every morning or drag herself around the house, or constantly missed the bus.

If it is clearly the parent's fault then no but unfortunately there is no way for a school to know so they have to hold someone accountable.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

thanks. I see.

I guess I'll just have to remember this when Luce goes to school. lateness, even when it's not his fault, can negatively affect him.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

shame on those parents

someone from the school should have at least warned the parents that their kid would be affected

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

That is REALLY a shame for your niece! Unfortunately, it would be so hard for the school to know who is responsible for the lateness, KWIM? Someone has to be held accountable, and the student is the one who is being kept track of, so it falls on them.

How very sad for her though!

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

we have chronic lateness at the school I teach at. They started this whole HOT ticket program...(Here On Time) where if you are at the door when the first bell rings, you get a ticket. These are just random days so you never know when they're gonna occur, and then a raffle is drawn and you win prizes. It's working out great so far!

Sad that we have to go to incentive programs but...I should talk! I'm late EVERY day! I'm kind of embarrassed when kids are getting to school before me now. People always say "Well you have a toddler, it's understandable" but it's definitely not her- it's me!

If the child is dependent on the parent to get to school, I think it mostly falls on the parent...but from the looks of this incentive program, the kid has to be motivated as well!

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

wow that totally stinks for your niece and I feel awful for her... kids learning the importance of being on-time is very important but I feel bad that she had to learn it because of her parents- can she appeal their decision?

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Absolutely.

In my school, we have an attendance teacher who will makes so many phone calls and home visits to habitually late students. So often our efforts fall on deaf ears and the parents make no attempt to get the child to school on time. A lot of instructional time is lost for that student.

As a sort of aside, last year I had an extreme case: student was coming to school 2 to 3 hours late EVERYDAY. We tried everything to get her mom to get her up on time and get her to school, including multiple calls to ACS. The response from ACS: lateness in elementary school doesn't matter. As long as they show up, there is no educational neglect. It isn't until middle school that they start to record the lateness as absence, or so said the ACS worker we spoke to.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

I have two perspectives on this.

One year I was in elementary school, I was late almost everyday to school. It was NOT my mother's fault. In fact, every day she was yelling at us to get out of the house. My sister and I walked together and my 2 brothers walked together. My brothers were on time everyday and we were late. I don't remember what finally got us to get our act together, but I think it was some sort of incentive at school, not from getting yelled at, at home. What should my mom have done? Driving us would have just further enabled our bad behavior, I think. We did get consequences at home. Eventually it worked itself out, but I just wanted to put this out there because everyone is so quick to jump on the parents. My mom was not neglectful. She taught responsibility and consequences and while it might have been harsh, if I didn't get into a HS because of my excessive tardiness, she would have told me it was my own fault and she would have been right.

From a teacher's perspective, excessive tardiness in HS is disruptive to the entire class. You only have students for 45-50 minutes total and the slightest disruption gets them riled up and it's tough to get them back on track. I can see why a competitive school might deny admission to a student for tardiness. You can be a great student and a great kid, but if you are going to disrupt your classes a few times a week, I think it is something to consider for admission.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

I'm a teacher in the NYC system and we DO tell the parents. We tell them at conferences, we send home notices, there are even 'Tardy" police. Trust me, the parents aren't out of the loop.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Definitely should be held against them.

I think tardiness is unacceptable. At the end of the day, an excuse is just an excuse. You are still tardy.

Shame on the parents.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

It can and should be held against them. Obviously whatever her first class is, she is missing a ton of work, not to mention the disruption to the class as a whole when she comes in.

Why isn't she getting a bus through her home district for the Catholic school?

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

In my school, we send out a letter at the end of each month if a child has excessive absences or tardies. As a teacher, I believe it should be counted against them because that is time they are missing lessons and it disrupts the rest of the class when they come in late. JMO.

Since it sounds like your niece applied to a private school, maybe they could set up a meeting with the school to discuss her tardiness. Are you sure she did well on the entrance exam as well?

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Posted by sarahbelle


The response from ACS: lateness in elementary school doesn't matter. As long as they show up, there is no educational neglect. It isn't until middle school that they start to record the lateness as absence, or so said the ACS worker we spoke to.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Is she late to only her first class or other classes throughout the day?

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Posted by Ophelia

Posted by WishingforBaby

Since it sounds like your niece applied to a private school, maybe they could set up a meeting with the school to discuss her tardiness. Are you sure she did well on the entrance exam as well?

yes positive. she scored very high. did very well.

Posted by Karen

Didn't realize this was NYC, sorry. What about public transportation then? Isn't that how most NYC kids get to school?

not these kids. I think my SIL is allergic to the bus/train.

besides. it's not really for me to figure out how to get them to school on time. I am sure her parents know the score since my niece knows why she didn't get in. I can't help her. I was just wondering if we thought it was fair or not.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Posted by Karen

I don't know - I think you CAN help her. Help her plan out a route to get herself to school on time, because I can promise you this won't be the last school to have an issue with this. Although hopefully this first rejection is a wake up call to mom & dad to move their tooshies a little faster in the morning!

Message edited 2/2/2011 3:44:32 PM.

Re: spinoff...should a child's lateness to school be held against them.

Eh, I have to be honest I was CHRONIC late to school as a junior/senior when I started driving myself. My parents left for work before I did and trust me, my education and being a good student was top priority to them. They would even call to make sure I left (although I would ignore their calls ) I can honestly say it was NOT my parents fault I was late to school. Totally my fault and just being a rebellious teenager.

In your nieces case, it appears it is her parents fault being they are her means to getting to and from school which is sad Unfortunately for the school she applied to, there is no way for them to know or or verify that the parents were at fault.