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Chattanooga: Student tardiness plunges at Howard with later start

By: Kelli Gauthier
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Howard Students

Last year, the foyer of Howard School and Academics and Technology never was full of students first thing in the morning.

High schoolers would straggle in late to their 7:15 a.m. classes, if at all, executive principal Paul Smith said.

But this year, after a state mandate to start classes later, Dr. Smith said he has noticed more students coming to school on time.

“We actually have to turn kids away from breakfast every morning because there are so many here,” he said. “Standing in my building every morning, I can tell a difference.”

And the numbers confirm his observations.

Now that high school classes begin at 9 a.m., students have missed two or more class periods 860 times, Dr. Smith said. By this time last year, that number was more than 14,000, he said.

Howard students this year have been tardy for first period about 240 times, compared with more than 700 during the first month last year, he said. Most of this year’s offenses can be tracked to about 47 habitual absentees, Dr. Smith said.

“Our tardies have gone down and attendance is up, hallelujah!” Dr. Smith said.

Senior Edward Berry, 18, said he often had to catch his younger brother’s middle school bus to school last year because he’d missed his own that came 20 minutes earlier. Starting classes one hour and 45 minutes later may attract some students back to school who have dropped out, he said.

“Attendance is good,” he said. “I’m starting to see everyone every day.”

Adrienne Gunn, 17, said not having to catch the bus while it’s still dark outside has affected her outlook on school.

“You don’t come to school with an attitude,” she said. “I’ve been positive this whole year.”

But so far, the “whole year” is less than 30 days.

Last year, some parents and students said moving the start time to 9 a.m. probably would work well in the beginning, but eventually students would start showing up late again.

Hilary Smith, lead school counselor at Howard, said students’ circumstances there often make it difficult for them to get to school early in the morning.

“Many of our students are parents, so it’s hard to get their children off to day care and then get to class,” she said.

Mr. Berry also said that since his job at Rite-Aid Pharmacy doesn’t end until 10 p.m., it is hard for him to unwind and get to sleep before 1 a.m., a bedtime that made the old 7:15 a.m. start time difficult.

In order to maintain the attendance gains at Howard, Dr. Smith said he planned to implement certain incentive programs to lure students to class. The school already offers free movie tickets to students with good attendance.

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