Absent Minded

When my CT told me at the beginning of the year that part of her grading system included points that kids couldn't make up if they were absent, I was kind of stunned. What if they're sick? I asked. What if it's an excused absence? Her response was "Too bad." I quickly understood her reasoning. Our kids are unbelievably truant, and a lot of those are excused absences from the parents. We had one student miss class all of last week being sick. We have other students who have to take care of siblings. Some kids miss for doctor's appointments and court dates. Others go to the Wellness Center practically everyday. And that doesn't even include the kids who are skipping class. Even though I was nervous about being unfair to the kids who have legitimate reasons (which a lot of the above reasons are), it ends up that if you're only missing class once a marking period, it's not going to hurt your grade. In the end, it comes down to the simple reality that kids can't learn when they're not in class.

Here are some other reasons I didn't think about to explain just how important it is that they come to school. Note the mention of Mission in the 10th paragraph!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/10/07/INBJSHURJ.DTL