PARTY'S OVER FOR TARDY KIDS HARD LINE ON LATE ARRIVALS EFFECTIVE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Kimberly Allen stood outside her cubbyhole office tucked beneath a staircase off Highland High School's main quadrangle and urged stragglers to hurry to class after a midday bell.

Known as ``The Tardy Lady,'' Allen enforces Highland's year-old tardy policy, which has students running so they won't be late.

``They are running in the morning. Between periods they are running to class,'' Allen said. ``If you go to other school campuses, you don't see this going on.''

A school ``tardy machine'' - a laptop computer attached to a bar-code scanner and a special printer - in Allen's office tracks the number of times each student is late to a class, with disciplinary consequences that escalate as the tardies accumulate.

School officials started the program in the 2004-05 school year to regain control of the 3,800-student campus. It's being credited for slashing tardies and disruptive behavior by more than half.

``Our whole thing was gaining back control of our school,'' Principal Stacy Bryant said.

``When the first bell rang for the first class, there would be 400 or 500 kids still out on campus lollygagging to class. We decided, enough was enough. The best way was to have immediate and swift consequences. Parents wanted them in class, too.''

Between the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years, tardies dropped from 45,008 to 18,289, a 59 percent decrease. Incidents of disruptive behavior went down more than 62 percent from 2,873 to 1,086.

Other offenses, such as suspensions, defiance, fights, gang activity and expulsions, also dropped.

During that same period, the school raised its attendance rate from 94.3 percent to 95.6 percent, which represents thousands of dollars more in state funding.

As of March this school year, the school has recorded 13,297 tardies.

Bryant said students have told her that they feel safe on campus. More importantly, fewer tardies means more learning time.

``The whole point is academics are important. Students can't learn if they are not in class the whole period,'' Bryant said.

Other high schools have used tardy machines, but Highland has assigned Allen, who was the switchboard operator, full-time to the run the tardy office.

``The students know to go to the room and speak to the clerk,'' Antelope Valley Union High School District trustee Ira Simonds said. ``The kids just stream in, not making any excuses.''

Allen uses a handheld scanner to read the bar code on their student ID card or keys in their identification number. The machine spits out a white slip with the student's name, the class period, how many previous tardies have been recorded and the corresponding disciplinary action.

Students can't get into class without that white slip.

The first two tardies result in warnings; the third, notification of parents by letter; the fourth, four hours of Saturday school; and the fifth, a citation for truancy and an appearance in juvenile traffic court, which could result in a fine of up to $195.

A student with 12 tardies could be placed in an alternative school. Habitual tardiness is considered a form of truancy under state education law.

``This is the silver bullet that every educator has been looking for and I found it, although I didn't devise it myself. I've just implemented it,'' Bryant said.

Before, teachers were in charge of marking tardies but enforcement was uneven.

``One Mr. Nice wouldn't do anything. Another teacher who has sister of Mr. Nice's student would enforce it. It was very inconsistent,'' Bryant said. ``Now it's consistent and now students are held accountable.''

The multi-pronged approach includes support of teachers who send students to Allen if they are tardy, security who helps round up meandering pupils, and clerical staff who take time from their regular jobs to fill in at the switchboard.

Allen said tardies average 40 to 50 a day, most for first period. On one day last week, Allen and Bryant surveyed the quad area as it cleared of students returning to class from lunch.

``I've been doing this for 22 years,'' she said. ``Never have I ever seen kids, when the first bell rings, start moving toward class,'' Bryant marveled at the empty quad.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Kimberly Allen, who runs the tardy office at Highland High, uses a handheld scanner to read the bar code on tardy students' student ID cards, or keys in their identification number. The machine spits out a white slip with the student's tardiness history.

(3 -- color) Kimberly Allen, who runs Highland High's tardy patrol from her small office beneath a staircase, checks the number of tardies that came her way on this day.

(4 -- color) If a student fails to bring his or her student ID card, no worries, and no excuses. Kimberly Allen merely inputs the information by hand.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer