Student handbook hails new rules

In early September, Mrs. Bethany Bates, the Student Affairs Director,announced and clarified new rules in a middle/high school assembly; those rules included changes in the absence policy, a new curfew for leaving the school, and a new scale in punishment for tardiness.

Among the changes SMIC has made to its rulebook, the new tardy policy was especially emphasized by Ms. Bates . Punishments are now harsher —   students with eight or more instances of tardiness cannot receive academic awards, and students with thirteen instances of tardiness will be referred to the disciplinary board. Both are newly introduced punishments.“Why should you get this award if you’re not putting in the effort to get to school on time?” said Mrs. Bates in an interview. “It says something about you.”

However, students still receive no punishment for their first five instances of tardiness, but parents will be contacted after the fourth. Conduct marks are now deducted after the tenth tardy. Those punishments have been moved to be inflicted earlier in a student’s accumulation of tardy policy violations.

The absence policy has also seen a change. In the past, ten excused absences were given to each student each semester, and each one could be justified by a parent’s phone call. Now, the first three absences are completely free, but each absence afterward needs official documentations that explain your reason for absence. All documentations after your three “unexcused” absences must be referred to the academic board.

According to Mrs. Bates, some students used their excused absences and free tardies for reasons that weren’t always legitimate. “Tardies and absences were a big problem, especially last year. Once students see that, oh, I can be tardy and everyone else is being tardy, it kind of grows. It’s important to be timely, and it’s a skill that is appreciated by employers.”

When asked whether those new rules would be effective, Tim Shiao (9B) said, “Yes, it will definitely affect those students…and I feel like it is working for me.”

The school had a curfew for students at 4:30 before, though it was not enforced. A new, stricter curfew has been established at 5:30, a time more possible to enforce, as some Chinese track clubs go till 5:30.

Those changes mean a stricter SMIC, but not an impossible one. Hopefully, the school will see a decrease in tardy and absence instances, among other things.