One of my proposed policies

Their “early intervention” is not intervention at all. My proposals to them would be intervention. The parent and student will be asked to meet with a member of the attendance committee when their child has missed a fourth day. The student will lose 2 points from their 9 week grade for each unexcused absence. I feel: • Parents must be held partially responsible • Currently the notes and calls may not even make it to a parent. • No unexcused absences beyond 3 should go unaddressed. Just as Ed Jamison, a School Board Member said, he would take as many days as he could without negative repercussions. Well, many of the dedicated teachers have negative repercussions from the student from day 1 because they are trying to catch the student up and often have to put in additional hours to do so or take time from other students in the classroom. Of course this is only applicable in some classes, like math. Most work can be made up by just getting notes from friends. • Consider further the pros and cons of removing a full class credit based on attendance. • Will losing credit help a child to stay motivated and therefore stay in school? • Does losing it all for attendance teach them the benefit of doing good work? • Would the ideas from others work better- lose credit for the actual unexcused days missed? • Research shows that if a student is failed, then absenteeism goes up and performance goes down. We will have an Attendance Review Committee “Committee” which will consist of at least 4 of the following: classroom teacher, a guidance counselor, the principal, school attendance officer, central office representative, representative from the department of juvenile justice. Excused Absences: The Board recognizes that certain absences cannot be avoided. Therefore students will not be penalized for absences that have resulted from conditions beyond the control of students, parents, or the school. The following documentation is required for considering absences as being excused: • Personal illness (this is probably the most difficult because it is so easy to falsify. But when legitimate is so important to accommodate. What can be done to accommodate those that really do have “sick migraines” ??- I have only had a few but my husband used to have them regularly and had to miss work and was not penalized. There are so many situations like that which would be accommodated in the workplace. What about those that really do have a flu or virus which does not need to be seen by a doctor? We don’t want to list a number of acceptable misses for this because then many will take that number of days and say they were sick. And then the teachers have to do all that extra work. I don’t know that I have a great answer that is in all fairness to the student and their family. Overall, what I think will be most effective is for it to be an inconvenience to the student ( or parent) to be absent. Therefore, this is just a couple of suggestions- 1) require the student to handwrite a paper of a certain length with a given topic for the attendance committee (most high school students test poorly in writing) or, 2) For the attendance to be excused, require the parent to stop in and speak with a member of the Committee within 2 days of the absence (that would be less difficult than having to pay for and take the time to get to the doctor.) These are other comments I made regarding the new policy: • Visits to medical professionals (needs this instead of dentist/doctor because it also needs to cover therapists and counselors that may not be “doctors”) Note from the medical professional • Severe illness in the immediate family (I would not put this as a separate line item because if it is legitimate, then it should not have a random limitation and if not legitimate, it is too easy to falsify info) • Death in the immediate family (I would not put a number here for the same reason as mentioned above unless it says , “more than 2 days will have to be approved by a member of the “Committee”. • Religious observance Advance notice, approval from the Committee • College visits Advance notice, Juniors and Seniors only, Verification letter (more than 2 absences must get approval from the Committee) • Court Appearance – Subpoena with Student’s Name • Other Extenuating Circumstances (such as, but not limited to: parent deployment and academic enhancement programs) ( I would not list natural disasters or pandemic flu because those are obvious and would not need Committee review) Documentation must be approved by the Committee What can be done for students that may have the opportunity to participate in something like a championship game out of state for their team on which they have been playing for many years (like a traveling team)? They should be allowed excused absences as much or more than a player for the school’s team who may have only given a little effort in order to be on the team. I don’t think it needs to be listed separately, but I do think that when the request comes to the Committee for this or any other activity that will be advantageous for the student or family, that permission to have it excused should be given if it is reasonable. As with all absences, the work needs to be made up with minimal teacher involvement and given the grade the work deserves. There is no benefit to Saturday School unless the time is actually used to have them meet with the Committee and/ or do extra work. I don’t think it will be financially beneficial anymore because a large percentage will most likely get it free. 11- This is a sore spot for many, so maybe a compromise like that mentioned in the Board meeting could be accommodated: Maybe have half of the days suspended be considered unexcused. However, again, what is the benefit? We want to improve ADA and ADM numbers. I understand suspensions are necessary. So when they are suspended, would it not be advisable for them to have consequences that actually negatively affect them directly for their actions? This is just an example, “On return from the suspension, a handwritten research paper must be submitted and accepted by the Committee before the student is allowed to participate in sports or extracurricular activities.” Additional Notes Remove “It is important…. (Because the absences will be addressed before then – which is encouraged by the state policy- and they will lose credit for each unexcused absence. If they lose 2 points off their class average for each unexcused absence, then a student would get no higher than an 80 if they missed 10 days. We should no longer need a statement about if you miss X number of days because absences are being addressed early on and by doing so: • Teachers don’t have to work as much extra to catch kids up. • It is more effective in reducing absences. • It will be perceived as the school actually caring. • The consequences will steer the students towards improvement. • Kids and families will feel empowered to make good decisions. Comment by Carol Duvall — July 14, 2010 @ 8:21 pm