Is tardiness a school-wide problem at Osbourn? Some students are concerned about whether they have enough time to get to class. 

Students at Osbourn find it difficult to get to class on time. However, Osbourn’s principal Dr. Chapman suggests that it could be a different factor other than the time given between passing periods. “We are currently experiencing approximately 150-200 fewer tardies per day than last year,” said Chapman. 

Some students find that hall traffic could be one of the factors. “Every time the bell rings, there are people either walking slowly or just not moving at all, and I find it difficult to get through big crowds,” said Yamilet Caporal. This could indicate that some students are not trying to be on time. “I feel like people walk too slowly, and there are a lot of people in one area most of the time; people stop in the middle of the hallway too, causing hall traffic,” said Katie Ho.

Other students have concerns about their location of classes, such as Sophia Whitesell. “Personally, I think we don’t have enough time to get to class. For example, I have Algebra all the way in the top right corner of A-Wing, and then I have to go all the way to upstairs JLC. It takes me nine minutes to get there,” she explained. 

Dr Chapman says teachers have the option to offer leniency. “I have informed staff that before submitting a tardy referral, they should check with the student about their schedule, and they do have the ability to offer leniency for students with a difficult commute until the connector is finalized; however, that should be on an individual basis and doesn’t require extending passing time for the whole school.” 

Some of the students believe they do have enough time to get to class. Yamilet Caporal is one of those students. “My classes are really close to each other. However, when I have a class in the JLC, it takes me a bit longer, but not to the point where I’m late.” Yamilet believes the passing time here at Osbourn was better than the four minutes over at Metz. “At Metz, my classes weren’t really close, and I would get caught in tardy sweeps.”

The majority of the students believe tardiness is a school-wide problem with many factors involved. Some students think it’s hall traffic, while other students say we don’t have enough time to get to class. Sophia Alas and Diogo Ferreira believe adding more time could help, saying, “Adding more time to the transition time, even a minute, would make a big difference.”

What do you guys think? Do you feel like you have enough time to get to class? Tell us in the comments!