Radford schools reset tardy counts for fourth quarter and shift enforcement to classroom teachers

School division staff told the Radford City School Board on March 25 that the division will reset student tardy counts to zero entering the fourth quarter and move enforcement to the teacher level to provide faster consequences and encourage punctuality.

Principal/administrator remarks explained that students' accumulated tardies can build to numbers that are hard to track and enforce at the administrative level. "Going into the fourth quarter, we want to kind of reset, and everyone will go back to 0 tardies, essentially, so we can better track it," a school leader said. The updated approach will have teachers give a tardy slip when a student is late to a specific class; the teacher will circle the third tardy for that class and the student will serve a 30-minute detention that day from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m.

Division staff framed the change as immediate, relationship-based discipline rather than punitive escalation: "The idea, of course, is not to be overly punitive ... the consequence is immediate," the presenter said. Staff will provide notification to students and families and continue hallway supervision to help students arrive to class on time.

The meeting also recognized monthly attendance accomplishments. Melissa Gerald, who oversees attendance matters, acknowledged McCargue Elementary as the March attendance champion, noting that the school took the traveling banner and trophy from Bell Heath, the February winner. Board members congratulated students, staff and families.

The board did not take a formal vote to enact a written policy change during the meeting; staff said a communication would go to families and that the new practice would start in the fourth quarter.