Whenever the bell rings and the music starts to play, it signifies a tardy sweep. Students begin to walk at a quicker pace, not wanting to get caught up in the tardy sweep.

It is understandable that staff wants everyone to get to class on time but when caught in the sweep, it takes time for students to get a pass when they could already be in class. Especially when there are reasonable causes for why many students are late.

Tardy sweeps can make it hard for students to get across campus to their next class because halls are crowded. Sometimes students are caught up in work in their previous class and have to hastily put away materials. Students can ask for a pass before leaving, but that just eats away time that could’ve been used to get to class.

Tardy sweeps also take away a quick chance to use the bathroom. Bathrooms lines can be long and can make students late as well. Perhaps students do make an extra effort to get to class on time during a tardy sweep, but students who do not care about being tardy will always be tardy, with or without a tardy sweep.

Being a couple seconds late can turn into 10 minutes late while students walk to the dean’s office to get a pass. It’s not fair for a student who is five seconds late to be treated as a one who is five minutes late.

Most teachers start class immediately but when students get caught in the sweep for whatever reason, they can miss those first 10 minutes of class, defeating the purpose of the tardy sweep.

I think the tardy sweep should not be used. It is a contradiction not wanting students to be late, but making students even more late. If the staff wants to clear the halls, then they should do that by monitoring the hallways and making sure that students don’t linger in hallways during class time.