Greetings everyone! I hope the school year is going well with
all of you. Last week, the teachers at my school had a faculty meeting.
One issue that I brought up that was of concern was the students'
attendance. Currently, it states that a student must not exceed 10 days
in a semester class or 20 days in a year long class without failing the
class. The only way to exceed this is if they have a doctor's excuse.
We have students who have missed more than 40 days! Then when
they get back to school, they expect us teachers to bend over backwards
to get them caught up becuase their absence was excused. The kids know
how to work the system and be able to get around it. No offense to
medical doctors, but around here it seems a lot of doctors around here
will sign an excuse for just about anything.
We are not doing any justice to the students or society by
allowing students get away with so many absences. How in the world do we
expect the students to get into college or hold down a job if they think
they just need an excuse to get away something.
I'm interested in knowing what are your school policies and
comments on attendance. How do you handle them? What seems to work at
your school? What do you do about if the student is hospitalized for a
long duration of time?
Please, I'm very interested in your input. I'll be taking the
information to the other teachers, principal, and super-intendent.