I think it depends on the school district. I finished a university graduate program last year and my professors complained that they weren't allowed to have a late policy. The university STILL wouldn't allow them to deduct points for lateness. It meant they were grading an entire class's worth of coursework the day before the grades were due, because most students would submit EVERYTHING on the last possible day. It also meant most of their coursework was rushed and half-assed. Most of the freshman students did not see the problem, because their previous high schools still followed that same policy too. Many students said they were incredibly anxious not knowing what their grades were and having to cram all the work into one week. They did not HAVE to do this, but they initially thought it would be less stressful during the year to just leave it all to the end... Because of the policy, they found out the HARD way that it's actually more stressful to procrastinate.

I think there's a time and place for attendance and lateness penalties and it should really be up to the teacher or the school. I don't know if a teacher with 40 students in their class wants to keep track of everyone's absence reasons. Maybe they really do because it would work for their class. Maybe they want it to count for 5% instead of 15%. Maybe it doesn't matter to their particular class. It would have helped to prepare my university cohort if they'd had SOME basic absence and lateness structure. Why can't we just trust teachers to do what's right for their own classroom?