Dear Parents and Guardians:

As you know, attending school on a daily basis and being on time for class are critical to ensuring academic success. Every parent wants their child to have the maximum amount of learning time in school. Unfortunately, there are students here at Hillsboro who has not internalized the importance of this concept. The amount of tardiness and absences at Hillsboro are above the norm. This is a matter of great concern to the Faculty and Staff at Hillsboro High School. This behavior could seriously impact a student's academic achievement, while possibly jeopardizing his/her scheduled graduation date.

In an effort to create and maintain a Safe and Orderly School Environment conducive to learning and teaching, Hillsboro High School has implemented a new Tardy Policy. This policy is designed to address students who habitually arrive late to school and class. Although some tardies may be excused, there is little doubt that the burden of making up missed assignments can be very stressful.

According to state law, it is the responsibility of parents to see that their child attends school regularly in order to receive instruction. If your child has an excused absence or tardy, please send a note each time stating the reason. We will also need a phone number where a parent can be contacted during the school day.

Hillsboro High School is currently implementing policies and procedures that will hopefully decrease chronic tardiness to school and class. School starts promptly at 7:15 AM. Any student arriving after that time will be considered late to school and will be marked as tardy until an excuse note is provided. Students have seven minutes in between each class change. It is our belief that this is ample time for students to proceed to their next class. As the tardy bell sounds it is our expectation that all students are seated in their classes awaiting direct instruction from the teacher. The following is the requirement of each student who arrives at or after the 7:15 AM tardy bell as well as those who arrive late to class:

• Report directly to their first period class. If you arrive after 7:15, the teacher will warn and document the tardy.
• A second tardy will be documented and a phone call will be made to parents;
• Students who are late to school/class three times will receive lunch detention and teachers will document.
• Students who are late a fourth time will be referred to the office and assigned ISS for 1 day.
• Students who are late a fifth time will receive an overnight suspension and require a mandatory parent conference with his/her assistant principal before returning to school. During the conference, the student, parent and administrator will sign a tardy contract. Students on a contract will be monitored on a weekly basis by the administrator responsible for discipline.
• Students who are tardy to class a sixth time, hereby violating the tardy contract, will be suspended out of school for one day.
• Each subsequent tardy after the sixth will result in additional days of suspension which range from 1-3 days of OSS. A parent conference will be requested to address continued issues pertaining to excessive tardiness.
• Chronically tardy students who are not adhering to the above policy will be placed on a three day suspension and a parent conference requested.
• Any student who refuses to report directly to ISS or their assigned lunch detention; or is disrespectful to any Hillsboro faculty member will be referred to the office. This may result in a three to five day suspension.
• Additional infractions may result in a referral to the discipline coordinator for repeated violations.

It takes a combined effort between the home and the school to convey the importance of education, class attendance and promptness to ALL of our students. The new tardy policy will begin Wednesday, March 5, 2008. We believe that the diligence and dedication invested in this policy will show marked improvement within two or three weeks. As we continue to work together, I encourage you to contact school staff with any questions or concerns. Please call your child's principal at 298-8400 ext. 2001 (Dr. Currie), ext. 2002 (Dr. Kessler) and 2003 (Mr. Brown) as soon as possible to discuss any concerns.

Educationally yours,
Roderick Manuel, Principal
Hillsboro High School