DeLAND, Fla. – A controversial policy at a local school is getting a failing grade from some students and parents.
Parents took to Facebook concerned about the tardy policy at DeLand High School. They claim if their children are just minutes late to class, they can't go at all.
"They close the door. They lock the door and say go to the tardy sweep," said ninth-grader, Chaplin Laney.
Chaplin said the tardy sweep is a room where students go if they are just minutes late to class and believes missing class is not the answer.
"I just think about all the important work I'm missing that I should be doing and not be sitting and wasting my time," he said.
Parents told Local 6 they agree.
"I think it's not right that they're missing the whole class just because they're tardy," said Naomi Arellano.
"To miss prime time education in the classroom and to sit in the cafeteria and hang out and do nothing. It just doesn't make sense to me as a parent," said Tania Laney.
According to school policy, "if students are late to class, it is the student's responsibility to report to the tardy room immediately. Students in the tardy room will miss instruction and are expected to turn in any projects and/or homework the same day."
The school said this policy is to help limit disruption of the learning process for all other students who arrived to class on time. Students who do report to the tardy room will also be marked tardy for class, not absent. Still, policy or not, it doesn't sit well with parents.
"I think our kids are supposed to be in school to learn and that's where they need to be in class," said Laney.
The school said the policy has been in place for the last four years and has been a successful way to decrease tardiness.