Elgin-based School District U-46 is looking to crack down on student tardiness next school year with the help of a new computerized attendance system.
School board members recently got an overview of the program that already is being piloted at South Elgin High School. If they ultimately approve, it would be implemented in the remaining four high schools in the fall.
“It’s holding students accountable for their actions and setting high standards,” said Aldo Calderin, assistant principal and dean at Elgin High School. “Ultimately the goal is to have students in class longer, which therefore will give them a better chance to learn.”
Calderin was part of a committee made up of representatives from each high school that has been exploring how to improve the current system, which he said is inefficient and ineffective.
While on the plus side it allows tardy students to stay in class, its implementation is inconsistent and students can lose valuable course credit as a punishment, explained Mike Demovsky, assistant principal at Streamwood High School.
The new system would be automated. Students who don’t make it in the classroom door when the bell rings would be sent to one of a handful of stations around the school where their student ID would be swiped through a scanner. Consequences like a detention or being unable to participate in after-school activities would immediately go into effect based on how many tardies the student had racked up, and would not be tied to course credit. Parents also will more easily be kept in the loop with a phone call.
“The student will not be able to avoid communication with school administration because feedback is immediate,” Calderin said. “They will instantly know what’s going on, teachers will know what’s going on, parents will be contacted immediately…and more time will be devoted to students that really need intervention time.”
Greg Walker, assistant superintendent for secondary education, said because the system is automated, all students will have the same consequences for their behavior and punishment wouldn’t be reliant on administrators tracking students down for a meeting.
Software for the system will cost $146,107.80, which would be paid for through grant money. The school board is expected to vote on the proposed tardy system May 16.
