WSD clears air on attendance policy

WALLACE — Students missing school is something that every school district works to avoid. Whether it be snow or illness related, the decision to keep kids at home is not taken lightly.

Obviously if school is canceled, a student’s attendance is not affected. What happens though if a student gets sick and misses school for an extended period of time when class is not called off?

A recent social media conversation concerning Wallace School District’s attendance policy got several local residents concerned regarding how the district handles these types of issues.

With the Kellogg School District closing down its doors for most of last week due to high numbers of sick students and teachers, residents on the east end of the Silver Valley began to wonder if the same fate awaited them.

One parent took to the Facebook page, SILVER VALLEY CLASSIFIEDS YOU WON’T GET KICKED OUT OF to voice his dissatisfaction with the Wallace School District and the way they handle student absences in general.

The original post read:

“Well I thought I would never have to home school my son.

But Wallace High sense Sept my son has gotten sick 6 times now.

Even though other schools have shut down to sanitize the schools Wallace is more concerned about attendance than health concerns.

Wallace High has such a stupid policy that forces kids to school when they get sick that it spreads to every kid.

So sad.”

The dialogue that followed within the comments section was something of a mixed bag of truth mixed with rumor that has become a dangerous, but trendy, way for misinformation to be spread as accurate.

The Shoshone News-Press sat down with Wallace Jr./Sr. High School principal Chris Lund and Silver Hills Elementary School principal Todd Howard to discuss the situation and ensure that parents and students understand how the attendance policy works.

“This idea that we are keeping kids here who are sick, that is not our goal at all,” Lund said. “We have a strict attendance policy, but last week we only had 8 percent of our students absent. So there was no reason for us here at the high school to think about shutting down. If Panhandle Health had contacted me with a concern then we would have taken it into consideration, but they didn’t.”

Both Lund and Howard commended their janitorial staff for their efforts in keeping their buildings very clean.

“We have two custodians at Silver Hills who clean the school daily,” Howard said. “During the day they make sure they are disinfecting the entire school and even some of the teachers have gotten into the habit of using disinfectant wipes as well. We make sure to get the kids outside as much as possible because keeping cooped up makes it easier for germs to spread.”

The Wallace School District also makes sure that when their janitorial staff is ill or absent that they have subs ready to step in and help out.

Although they do not like it when kids miss school, both principals agreed on one very important message.

“If you’re sick, please stay home.”

One of the biggest issues that was tossed about in the social media post was the discussion on how students who miss school are punished with a detention.

According to Lund and the student handbook, there is some truth to this, but also is a bit of a misinterpretation of the rule.

The original poster discussed his frustration with this interpretation of rules within the comments.

“I’ve asked my son when he gets sick are other kids sick as well and every time he tells me they are. He tells me all the students talk about it at school that they go to school sick so they DONT have to serve detention.

Going to school sick is better than detention.

My daughter who graduated from Wallace has said time and time again kids will go to school sick to not serve detention.

Anyone here reading this THINKS that Wallace some how is immune to the current issue of the flu your badly mistaken.

My son right now is sick and refuses to stay him (home) so he doesn’t have to serve detention.”

One commenter believed that the punishment is levied because the school loses money when kids are not present.

“It's because they lose a ton of money when the kid misses school it's all about money in my opinion … it's ridiculous you should go by grades!!”

While it is true that the school does receive funding from the state that is based on attendance, the reason for the “detention” may be more a matter of verbiage than actual punishment.

The Wallace Jr./Sr. High student handbook states that in regard to absences and how they are handled:

“…If a student has more than six (6) absences in any class(es) in a semester and wishes to receive credit in said class(es), he/she must request to appear before the staff Attendance Committee and present his/her case for consideration by the committee unless they have made up detentions equivalent to days/periods over the six absences. Each situation will be judged on an individual basis but make-up detentions will pertain to all students unless there are extenuating circumstances. In cases where a student exceeds the number of absences for the semester a letter will be sent informing them of an appeals process before the attendance committee. At the end of the second semester, after school is out, if detentions need to be made up the student will have to come in during those first summer days to make up time. The attendance committee is comprised of the principal, three teachers, and the counselor.

Some reasons for excused absence: (These still count towards your total of 6.)

1. Illness;

2. Death in the family or funeral;

3. Professional appointments;

4. Out-of-town trip if prior arrangements are made (pre-arranged absence) but only when, in the judgment of the administrator and/or classroom teacher, this absence is justified;

5. Permission of the principal.

Lund explains that the punishment aspect of this is, in all actuality, a complete non-factor as there is no record of any disciplinary action on the student’s record other than the issue of attendance. The “detentions” are more along the lines of study halls that insure that the student does not fall behind and are only enforced after the student has missed six days.

“This is nothing that goes in their file,” Lund said. “We understand that it’s flu season, we understand that kids do get sick, or that other extenuating circumstances do happen. And it’s important for people to understand that they don’t have to serve any of the study halls (detentions), they can go before the attendance committee and say, ‘this is why we were gone,’ but the difficult part for me is when we see someone that hasn’t made any effort to make it to any of the study hall time to get themselves caught back up. It just doesn’t look very good when they’re trying to make a case for themselves.”

The Wallace School District will continue to work to keep their schools as clean and healthy as possible, but any parents with questions are encouraged to contact them with questions regarding any aspect of the policies within the student handbook.

Neighboring Kellogg and Mullan school districts have different attendance policies than Wallace. Differences include the number of allowed absent days and the manner in which a student would appeal.