Hall sweeps hope to clean up Blair

In response to problems with tardiness and ID's at Blair, administrators adopted new punishments for students in violation of these rules. A new hall sweep policy is meant to seriously address this problem, administrators said.

The number of student tardies has increased since last year. Attendance secretary Roxanne Fus explained that the increase was significant despite a larger student population.

The new procedures went into effect soon after Principal Phillip Gainous issued a P.A. announcement on November 14. Many students complained that enough information has not been given since that initial announcement. In an informal Silver Chips poll on December 12, 76 of the 100 students surveyed said that the new policy was not explained well.

Administrators reported that in addition to the obvious problems caused by students not wearing ID's, increased tardies are leading to greater losses of credit for Blair students. "We're having more and more problems with tardiness, which is leading to more LC's," said assistant principal Richard Wilson.

Wilson said that administration has decided to take serious action. The new hall sweep policy provides stringent measures for anyone who is caught in the hallway after the bell rings. "After a student has been swept three times, they will be suspended until a parent comes and has a conference [with administrators]. If a parent doesn't come, then [the student] stays home," said Wilson.

Administrators have established a database on the Blair server that keeps track of students who have been swept. The school also uses the database to compile information about the hall sweep policy.

Using the new database, secretary Carrie Addison reported that the first two hall sweeps on November 17 and November 20 resulted in the collection of 140 students.

Administrators plan numerous sweeps in the upcoming year, with Wilson calling for "a sweep every couple of weeks." Administrators reported that the date of the next hall sweep has already been decided.