Shawnee Mission South is attempting to remedy its growing number of first hour tardies with the newly instated “Tardy Round Up.” The new policy comes after increased concern about the number of students arriving after the bell rings, not only to their classrooms, but to the South campus, thus making it difficult for teachers to count all tardies.

Round Up, implemented March 29, mandates that any students walking through the front doors after the 7:40 a.m. bell must go through the security desk and produce an ID to have it scanned. They will also receive a red tardy form outlining the disrespect being tardy communicates. However, some took issue with some of the original language of the slips and they were revised the next day.

“The original, it wasn’t aimed at anyone. It was just kinda saying ‘Hey, when you’re late, you’re just showing that things don’t matter to you.’ Some people might have taken offense to that. It wasn’t meant in an offensive way,” associate principal Niko Platko said.

The policy has been in place for less than a month, and opinions are already divided. Many students take issue with the slips because in some cases, the lines caused by having to receive the slips make them even more late to class.

“It’s making us a little later than we were originally…because it takes time to stand and stuff. I’m normally just a few minutes late. I’m not missing that much I don’t think,”  senior Brendan Worely said .

However, some think that it effectively spurs students to get to school on time.

“I do have one student who has had excessive tardies who has been here every day on time since the Round Up started,” English teacher Tim Williams said.

Regardless, the Tardy Round Up is set to be permanent feature of mornings at South. As to how effective it’ll be, only time can tell.