I know I have only been a student teacher in the Pierre School District for less than 3 months, but I have already formed an opinion of the school's "Sweep" policy that they have already put on hiatus. At the beginning of the school year, the teachers and administration started talking about the problems they were having with tardies. They brainstormed different ways of enforcing the tardy policy by implementing a different procedure. Several of the teachers had came from the Sioux Falls Washington School district where they implemented a procedure called "Sweeps." The "Sweep" procedures really helped to reduce the amount of tardies in that school district greatly, by sweeping students who were tardy and not allowing them to come in and disrupt a class already in progress unless they have an excused slip from the office or another teacher. Another repercussion of being "Swept," in the Sioux Falls Washington school district is that the student will receive a 0% for that class they were tardy for. All the teachers discussed this and believe this would be a good way to reduce the amount of tardies from last year. They believe they should implement this procedure gradually, by letting the student receive up to 75% for the work missed that class period instead of 0%, which I felt was really generous! The teachers and administration agreed on the procedure and implemented it the second week of school. The numbers spoke for themselves. The tardies compared to last year dropped dramatically! Students were able to effectively learn in a classroom without being disrupted several times throughout the class period. I thought everything was going smoothly with this new procedure until........
The administration and school board got together and decided the policy should be put on hold until they get it in writing and in the student handbook. Not having legal documentation of this procedure may lead to legal rammifications down the road, so the "Sweeps" policy was no more. Now, students wander into class 5 minutes late. The bell rings and then they decide to stroll in. It now takes at least 5 more minutes for them to find their seats and settle down to begin class! It is so annoying! Pierre High School, please bring back the "Sweeps" policy! We need it!
~Mr. Sand
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It is unfortunate that the school is not willing to take a strong stand when it obviously is able to work. There is, however, always a concern about making sure that things are well documented before putting into place. There is always danger of the board not being able to enforce a complaint if it is not in the handbook.
ReplyDeleteI hope that they bring it back soon. It must be very disruptive to have kids walk into class late.
ReplyDeletePierre High School stinks compared to Stanley County High School
ReplyDeleteI have had the priviledge of teaching in both schools and also had children and grandchildren in both schools. There are good teachers, students, and patrons in both! We are lucky to live in Pierre or Fort Pierre, South Dakota.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be difficult because you would CONSTANTLY have to be watching your back around EVERY corner. You don't know who's on your side. And having to go through metal detectors would be intimidating and possibly make you feel uncomfortable and not wanna be there. Which would result in poor grades BECAUSE you don't wanna be there. It would be very hard to be successful.
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