SNOW HILL – Changes to the school system’s attendance policy decrease the number of days of school students can miss each year.
At a meeting last week, the Worcester County Board of Education approved revisions to the school system’s attendance policy in an effort to reflect requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
“The big change in our attendance policy will be moving from seven days of vacation time to five,” Superintendent Lou Taylor said. “It will be five days. That’s going to be something we will work on with our schools and then market that so that our parents and our community are aware.”
Diane Stulz, coordinator of instruction for the school system, presented the changes last Tuesday. She explained that because of ESSA, which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act, the school system needed to adjust its attendance policy. The policy previously defined a chronically absent student as one with an absence rate of 20 percent. The revised policy approved this week changes that to 10 percent.
“So students who miss 18 or more days per year are considered chronically absent,” Stulz said, adding that that equated to two days a month.
Stulz said the revised attendance policy also decreased the number of days a student could miss for vacation from seven to five.
The revised policy also addresses absences for school sponsored events, which were previously considered lawful absences.
“Now they’re no longer considered absences if they’re participating in a school sponsored activity,” Stulz said.
A final change in the policy is an added provision that will allow high school students to make up time that they missed at the discretion of school leadership. Stulz said options could include Saturday school, after-school programs or even summer school.
The school board voted unanimously to approve the revised student attendance policy.
