Sliding in late to your first class every morning may have worked last year, but a new attendance policy designed to reduce tardies and absences will make it a little harder to pull off if you still want to get credit. As of this school year, students and parents are responsible for adhering to the rules laid out by “Compulsory Attendance Law RCW.” If youʼve read pages eight and nine in the GHS planner, or passed the mandatory attendance test that your second period teacher was supposed to administer, youʼre all caught up. But if youʼre one of the many still in the dark, here is a condensed version of the new regulations.

Tardies are costly; even more so than last year. Three tardies still equal one absence, and being more than 15 minutes late to class will go on your record as an unexcused absence. If a student has 12 absences of any kind, excused or unexcused, in one class, an appeal for credit is necessary. This means filling out forms, consulting with teachers and counselors, and, if youʼre a senior, sweating over whether a loss of credit could cost you that letter of acceptance youʼve been dying to find in the mailbox. In a change from previous yearsʼ attendance policies, if more than three of those 12 absences are unexcused, appealing for credit wonʼt do any good. Having too many unexcused absences — three or more in one class — will automatically make you ineligible for restoration of credit, unless you have no more 12 absences total, good grades and “exceptional” effort and conduct in the class. Even then, an appeal is not guaranteed.

The new policy is designed to minimize absences and tardies, and the administration hopes that fewer appeals will be necessary and therefore that fewer students will miss out on credit due to unexcused absences or too many late arrivals. Although many students are skeptical that the new policy will help, administrators think that the stricter policy will motivate students to keep up a good attendance record.

So what qualifies as an excused absence? The district policy states that any of the following can be legitimately excused: illness or injury, a family emergency, a religious holiday, a pre-planned absence with a note from a parent, a college visit, a family trip, or a doctorʼs appointment. Unexcused absences, unfair as some may seem, include sleeping late, car problems, traffic, or an outside job.

For excused absences, all you need is a note with your ID number, name, date and periods missed, the reason for the absence, and a parent signature. The note must reach the attendance office within five days of the absence, an increase from the two days previously allotted for excuses. If end up with too many absences, appeals are available during the last week of the semester.

There has been plenty of criticism of the new policy, but itʼs not going to change anytime soon. So get to class on time, pick your skip days carefully, and keep sick days to a minimum.