A Decatur High School parent wrote in the other day…

My two high school students have reported that DHS is having massive lines of kids waiting for “tardy slips” in the morning. One morning kid #1 was not in his seat when the 8:00am bell rang, sent to attendance office, stood in line for 15-20 minutes, BUT the line behind him was out the front door. He estimated 50 kids behind him. Other child reports kids showing up at the very end of first period this week, with several saying they had to stand in long lines for “tardy slips.”

With the DHS start time moved up to 8:00, is anyone tracking the consequences???

Asst. Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen provided this explanation…

DHS is teaching a life skill about being punctual (see Maureen Downey’s editorial in the AJC). This isn’t a new lesson to be taught at DHS, but the follow-through is more complete this year. Thus, it is hard to compare last year’s data to this year’s. A more streamlined process has been developed at the attendance office to get kids to classes further. For instance, on 8/15, the line had dissipated by 8:15.