School Board mulls policy on chronic absences

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Aug. 14, 1998 | 11:12 a.m.

High school students will get 18 class absences before they automatically fail the course according to a policy the Clark County School Board is considering.

"Eighteen absences is a lot," said district attendance administrator Ruth Joseph. "That's one day a week you took off."

The policy, discussed at a Thursday night board meeting, also says elementary students would get 20 absences before they have to repeat the grade.

The board could make the regulation an official policy at their next regular meeting, Sept. 10. They want more parent input before then.

Some high schools already informally observe the 18 absences rule. The new regulation would make it official district-wide.

Other key tenets of the proposed policy:

-- An "absence" is defined as missing at least 30 minutes of a middle or high school class. An elementary school pupil would be marked absent a half-day if he/she missed one-third of the day. The pupil would be marked absent an entire day if he/she missed two-thirds of the day.

-- High school students who miss 10 classes could be referred to an alternative high school

-- Parents can request a hearing if they believe their child was unfairly marked absent

Board member Judy Witt added another clause: students who miss 10 classes can be pulled into a conference with school administrators and teachers.

"We do not sit down with these kids and say, 'What's the problem?' We just dump 'em and it's got to stop," Witt said.

Parent LuAnn Day agreed.

"I really felt that this policy did not address how to keep kids in school," she said. "It talks a lot about what to do if they are not there."

The attendance regulation is separate from a stricter new state law that says students will be sent to police if they skip three classes. Under that law, students could face fines or losing their driver's licences.

District officials, overwhelmed by the administrative paperwork created by the new law, cited just 236 truants last year, Joseph said.

But school officials admit that "thousands" of students had missed more than 18 classes, although some of those may have had legitimate "excused" absences.

"Is that too many? Yes," Joseph said. "Were some of them truant? I'm sure."

Several observers urged the board to adopt the regulation.

Clark County Classroom Teachers Association president Sue Strand said elementary school teachers rejoiced at the idea of a policy that specifically addresses elementary pupils.

Deputy district attorney Bob Teuton, who deals with juvenile offenders, said the policy was overdue, despite any flaws.

"We've got to give this regulation an opportunity to play out," he said.