I went to a community college for 2 years before transferring to a prestigious university.
For me it was a family issue; during high school my mother suffered a severe health crisis (my father was already deceased), and as the oldest I felt obligated to stay at home until my mother passed, so I could manage the family estate and oversee my younger siblings' primary education.
I was attending a county college about 20min from the family estate, so I was able to make most of my classes. However, I had a 7:30AM statistics class every Tuesday. I also dropped my sister off for middle school every morning at 7:55. Mr. C had a dumb, high-school style policy that any late homework would not be accepted, no matter what. Additionally, he would not accept work early outside of class, even if you finished early. Essentially, if you did not turn in your homework at roll call, you were marked with a 0.
I was much more concerned with my little sister's schooling than a pretentious teacher at a county college; as a result I never turned in a single assignment "on time".
I tried talking with the professor, and he was not cooperative. My honest opinion four years out is that he was a failed mathematician with a god complex, and he satisfied his ego by playing at being emperor of the Stats 101 classroom. I'm now a 1l at a top law school and I've never encountered a professor who was such a self-important asshole.
To be fair, I think he hated me as well, because I wasn't bowled over by the fountain of mathematics wisdom from Doctor (Associate)Professor Dickhead, Jr.
Anyway, near the end of the semester, I made an appointment with the Dean of Academic Affairs. After a terse debate and the implication that a recent Performing Arts scholarship could be defunded, and alternatively that the administration would be hearing from my family lawyer for discriminating against a disabled student ( I have Crohn's Disease) we settled on an alternative grading for Stats 101: I would be graded solely on my midterm and final exam perfroamace. I walked away with a 98%.
My AP Stats teacher used the same damn text in 11th Grade, and at least she made her own exam instead of changing number from the examples and explanations after each chapter.
While my circumstances are certainly exceptional, I think it is fair to consider your own students. What is the point of your class. Is it to check boxes, or to actually prove competency? If a student doesn't finish busywork but can nail 90%+ on a final exam or bluebook test, why the hell shouldn't you pass them? They obviously know more about the subject that a D or C student who turned in everything on time and just barely restated the question.
Besides, in the real world, results matter much more than process. Who would be more successful in a workplace; the employee who danced through the hoops of elaborate micromanagement, or the employee who exceeded his position's expected revenue by 30% for the quarter despite playing things his own way? I know who I would want to promote.