Attendance Policy: Students, say goodbye to sluffing, don’t miss the bell, and get to class because Policy 4170 is back at Fremont High.
Policy 4170, otherwise known as the ¨Attendance policy¨, has been reinstated this year. This policy limits your time away from school without consequences. In order to graduate, students must not lose .75 credits or more throughout their time in high school.
There are various ways to lose that 0.75 credits. Every individual will be marked for tardies and unexcused absences, which is what will affect your attendance record for the time being.
One of our assistant principals , Mrs. Mogolich explains that the only reason these restrictions were ever postponed from the district in the first place was because of the Covid-19 protocols.
In a letter emailed to all members of the district, Weber School District tells us,¨If a student is absent or tardy 5 times in any class period, excused or unexcused, throughout the term, the student will lose attendance credit for that particular class.¨
We are slowly easing into this renewed restriction, but here are some of the things that are important about the attendance policy.
This set of rules being put back in place does not mean a student is out of luck when they have to miss one day of school. Parent excused absences as well as prearranged absences, such as vacations, won’t negatively impact your attendance record.
Mogolich explained, “This year, you won’t be penalized for parent excused absences with our Attendance Policy as long as the parents call and excuse it.” Importantly, she adds, “They have five days from that absence to [excuse] it.”
That also brings up the question of the difference between parent excused absences and prearranged absences. On the Weber School District website, the attendance policy at the time reads of no difference between the two. Each will affect your record the same way this year. The transition from no obligation to attending class into risks of lost credit if you don’t attend will be difficult for most students except those who have already experienced something like this with sports.
Students on a team or in a group year 2021-2022 all know of the eligibility check. Last year, everyone who participated in extracurriculars were unable to participate in their event if they were not in class the day of, or had an unexcused absence. The attendance policy, in a way, is like putting every individual under that eligibility check. Graduation day is like game day: if you lose credit from being late or having an unexcused absence, you won’t play, you won’t graduate.
These players can expect an easier transition with the restrictions of Attendance Policy 4170 because of the strict eligibility check last year.
Jensie Jeffries, a player on our girls lacrosse team, claims that our players will even do better with attendance this year than with the eligibility check. “¨I think it’s better for the players because you have 5 days you can be absent or late, and it correlates with the attendance policy instead of strictly upon player.”
¨So, for those individuals who were and still are, or those who will be in extracurriculars, the attendance policy is comparatively in your favor.
Students in our district, and in the state, are being held to a much higher standard than the past two years. The attendance policy is something that will take getting used to, but it will be enforced to all students here at Fremont from this point further. We need to be in class!
