One sophomore believes that discussion around the new schedule is distracting from the problems we already face.  

Discussion around the new schedule is distracting from the problems we already face.

Students consistently late but not to their own fault.

Scheduling in the classroom is something that the Malvern community needs to discuss. No, not block schedules or any of the potential future scheduling options, but how students are constantly late to class, and not to their own fault.

On talking to many students and other teachers, it seems a very consistent issue that students are late to class. It could be two minutes or it could be ten. Usually the blame is put on the student with excuses such as, they weren’t walking fast enough or that they are just going late on purpose. These excuses aren’t true.

Teachers say they are supposed to give five minutes at the beginning of class to allow stragglers to arrive. In my personal experience, teachers are consistently starting as soon as a few students arrive, not allowing the for the full five minutes to pass. Now, with that being said, I wouldn’t mind if classes started right away if some teachers let students out on time.

In my two years at Malvern, I have had maybe four teachers who, consistently let their students out late every time class is over. If I am on the third floor of Tolentine and I get out five minutes late, it should be understandable that I will be late if my class is on the top floor of Carney.

As Matt Kropiewnicki said, “Some teachers don’t understand that if I’m coming from Tolentine to Carney for a class, I’ll be late.”

Now, I do not want to put all of the blame on the teachers. The clocks differ in almost every building. In Tolentine Hall it could be 12:37 but in the Duffy Arts Center it could be 12:43, which certainly can cause strife between teachers. There is only one way to fix this issue. The school needs to have all of the clocks set to the same time and have a bell between classes. The alarm is a signal for when class is over, and no teacher can keep someone after the bell. A bell is the remedy that we need.