THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, February 8, 2019 Page 3 Absenteeism Alert School Committee targets major changes in student attendance policy as a top priority By Mark E. Vogler A lenient attendance policy currently allows students of Saugus Public Schools to miss about 40 days of classes during an academic year before they risk losing graduation credit. But school officials will no longer tolerate that kind of absenteeism at the High School and Middle School grade levels next fall if the full committee approves major changes drafted by its policy subcommittee. The new threshold would be 20 or more excused or unexcused absences for a yearlong course and 10 or more for a semester course under the proposed policy that could take effect at the beginning of the 201920 school year. “Students deemed too sick to stay in school by the nurse” will be ineligible to participate that day in athletics and other extracurricular activities, according to the revamped policy being considered. The proposed policy focuses on “chronic absenteeism,” a problem that has plagued the school district in recent years. According to statistics compiled by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 18.6 percent of students in Saugus Public Schools were “chronically absent” (10 percent or more) during the 2017-18 academic year. That was considerably higher than the state average. Nearly 44 percent of Saugus students were absent 10 or more days with an average of 11.2 absences. The average number of absences statewide was 9.5 with an average of 34 percent of students missing 10 or more days. “What we’re trying to do is establish a common message when it comes to attendance,” School Committee Member Linda Gaieski told members of the Policy Subcommittee she chairs at Wednesday’s meeting. “We have to crack down on chronic and constant absenteeism … This is essential to raising student achievement,” Gaieski said in an interview after the meeting. Gaieski said she was pleased with the overall revisions of the revised policy that must be approved by the full School Committee. “I’m happy that we’re making attendance a priority. I’m happy that we’re cracking down on tardiness,” she said. The revised attendance policy, if adopted, would not affect students in the elementary school grades. “The chronic absenteeism starts in elementary school,” Gaieski said. And that’s an issue that school district should address in the future, she added. Gaieski told colleagues on the policy subcommittee that it’s not unusual for elementary school students to enter the Middle School with an aggregate of 100 or more absences. With a 180-day schoolyear, that would amount to missing a half year of classes, she said. At the request of Athletic Director Terri Pillsbury, the subcommittee included language that would specifically prohibit any students who do not attend classes on a given day because of illness from participating in sports or other extracurricular activities. “The focus is on being a student athlete … You’re a student before being an athlete, and we wanted to tighten that up,” Pillsbury said after the meeting. The subcommittee also tightened up language that deals with tardiness. Every three tardy incidents after 7:45 a.m. (without a medical note) will be the equivalent of one absence. Any subsequent tardy incident after the three tardies will also count as an absence. Students cited for tardiness will be subject to detention. How Saugus ranks on attendance Statistics compiled by the state Department of Elemen“Adult Foster Care of the North Shore has offered unwavering support from day one. When I was admitted for emergency surgery, the AFCNS team made sure my brother was in good hands while I recovered.” Toots, Caregiver to Brother, George tary and Secondary Education for the last academic schoolyear show Saugus Public Schools falling below the average for the state and for school districts in neighboring communities. District/Attendance Rate/Average Absences/ Absent 10 or more days State: 94.6/9.5/34.1. Saugus: 93.4/11.2/43.9. Revere: 94.4/9.8/34.2. Peabody: 93.6/11.0/40.1. Lynn: 93.8/10.6/39.7. Melrose: 96.1/7.0/23.2. Malden: 94.3/9.5/31.8. 978-281-2612 AdultFosterCareNS.com Celebrating 18 Years dine drink gather enjoy THE NORTH SHORE'S HOTTEST NIGHTCLUB! 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