Recently, students have become upset with the attendance policy being enforced. Because of their lack of attending school, grades have been affected in negative ways.
Most students have stated that they had no knowledge of this policy, but Assistant Principal Roseann Johnson said “We talked about it at the beginning of this year” proving that all students were made aware of this “new” policy during the meeting given at the start of each school year.
The policy said, “12+ classes absent: The SSA may meet with the student and parent to determine if the timing and circumstances of the absences shall grant the student the opportunity to make up absences outside of class/school hours.”.
Based on the policy, students are not stuck with a punishment that does not seem reasonable. Tamara Astin who is the SSA, or Student Success Advisor, confirmed this. “It depends; if you made pre-arrangements then that doesn’t count against you.” Astin also stated, “Mrs. Johnson is a lot more strict than I am. If you were to ask Mrs. Johnson, it is a flat no matter what.”
Although many students have been facing issues with their grades and attendance, not many have addressed their concerns to Johnson or Astin; most have come to accept the policy and what it has done to their grades such as Ben Nortnik who said “I think it’s pretty fair.”
Or, Angelo Trujillo who said, “It does have hard effects, but there are good ways to encounter that.”
