Why do absences and tardies affect us so much for events at school such as off-campus lunch, school events, and even more memorable things like school dances or prom? Cesar Chavez High School tends to use our attendance to take away all the things we enjoy. There are many students who have above average grades, including myself, who may have above average absences or tardies here and there due to the ongoing traffic problems that we have with the ‘one way in, one way out’ school. I understand why we get disciplined for this, but these rules are not fairly distributed between ALL students. There are some who have the same attendance as others yet still manage to get all the benefits that CCHS gives to students who are here daily. Instead EVERYONE should be placed on the No Go List alike, but aren’t.

In years past No Go List inhabitants were able to make up absences and tardies with detentions and those who choose to not attend would keep the consequences already assigned. However, new to the 2018-19 school year we now lack the ability to make up any tardies or absences for school-wide events. If the absences are excessive and the student’s grades match the attendance then it would be understandable to take away games, dances, off-campus lunch, etc. Sadly though, not all students fit into this category, as there are many renaissance and honor roll students that are being flagged for attendance and placed on the No Go List.

Off campus lunch at Cesar Chavez High School is only available for those who have little to no tardies or absences. Many believe that if a student has a good grade point average and are receiving the grades necessary in order to pass classes at an honor roll rate then they should be allowed to have the right to off-campus regardless of their absences or tardies. 

School events such as athletic games are also something taken away from us when we are put on the No Go List. It is really unfair to deprive us of the experiences we should be able to have as high school students. Teachers and staff have complained about how students do not have school spirit and are not supporting our sports teams, drama, dance, etc. How are we supposed to do so if we cannot attend half of these events? Not only are we missing out on the fun of being with and supporting our friends at their games, but we are missing out on the memories being made.  After all, we only have four years to do this.

Now the biggest one for students will  be prom. How is a school going to take away the event that is one of the biggest nights ALL students look forward to throughout the four years of high school? From talking to students around campus, many have had the same complaint as this. My prom was taken away my junior year because of my attendance yet I had straight A’s in all of my classes. There were probably more than 50 kids who were never allowed to make up their attendance last year. As for the ones who were able to make them up with detention, CCHS waited until last minute to put all the dates of detention out for students. However, many of the students were already in the middle of either senior events, finals, sports, jobs, or saving up for prom in general.

Ultimately a school’s job is make sure that students learn lessons daily. Punitive discipline is not always the answer to lesson teaching, especially amongst teenage students. We are all still minors on this campus dependent upon our parents or guardians to reliably get us to school each and every day.  If we are taking care of our priorities and maintaining honor roll grades in our classes, why are we being punished for someone else’s responsibilities and the logistics of a poorly designed single driveway to our campus.