In response to previous years of frequent student lateness, the Heschel administration introduced a new lateness policy that took students by surprise. The new policy states that if a student arrives at school between 8:00-8:10 a.m., they are considered late. After eight lates, a student will be required to serve a morning detention at 7:30 a.m. If they arrive after 8:10 a.m., that is considered a cut– after six cuts, students will be required to spend a half day in the high school office, from 8:00 a.m. until the lunch period. If a student has an exam during their extended detention, they will be required to take it in the office. 

As a member of the Student Affair Council, and someone who lives an hour away from school, I understand the need for an amended lateness policy. Why should someone who arrives at 8:02 be penalized in the same fashion as someone who doesn’t come to tefillah altogether? That said, I fail to understand the logic of the new policy. The change from after-school detention to morning detention is challenging for those with a long commute. If you live an hour away, you have to wake up well before 6:00 a.m. to arrive at school on time and, on top of that, manage a heavy workload and extracurriculars. As for the half-day detentions, the administration shared that they didn’t expect to use this punishment often, but rather use it as motivation for students to arrive on time. It seems illogical that the punishment for missing school is missing more school. If students are further removed from tefillah, will they want to build authentic connections with their groups as opposed to building resentment? 

The Heschel administration has also incentivized students to arrive at school on time by scheduling a subject during first period on Thursday mornings, and tefillah during second period. While this has proven to be an adjustment for me personally, as I prefer to start my day meditatively, with tefillah, I commend the administration for experimenting with different solutions.