Broward County school board chooses to go back to its original approach with absences

BY RYAN MERARD

When a student misses school, a parent must call the school to notify them of this absence, so it is excused. However, many parents work during the day and are preoccupied with other things and forget to call their child out sick. With the new absence policy, Broward County students will not face repercussions for having an unexcused absence.

During the summer of 2016, the School Board of Broward County implemented a new absence policy which resulted in students facing consequences for unexcused absences. The major changes of this policy included students being able to receive up to 60% off missed homework and 10% off tests taken late due to unexcused absences.

Before this change, students had the ability to make up missed work and receive full credit, regardless of the type of absence. Now, for the 2019-2020 school year, the school board decided to return to these guidelines, giving students two full days to make up work for any absence, excused or not. 

This new change is the third time the district changed its absence policy in 4 years. The district is reverting back to its old guidelines because school board members believe that the policy made in 2016 was not having much effect on unexcused absences.

“I don’t think students should face consequences that could academically hurt them.”

Many students are happy about the new policy because it gives everyone an equal opportunity to receive credit for the work they do and doesn’t punish kids for missing school and not being able to excuse the absence.

“I don’t think students should face consequences that could academically hurt them,” junior Julian Smallcombe said. “A lot of times, the reason for the absence [being] unexcused is not bad, and punishing everyone for what one group of students may do doesn’t seem right.”

The reason for the policy change in 2016 was to make students more conscious of the implications of skipping, as about 51% of absences during the 2015-2016 school year were unexcused. According to district data, the number of unexcused absences had been gradually rising in years prior to 2016, which alerted school board members that a change had to be made soon.

Many of these unexcused absences may have been students skipping classes. Though this policy punishes students who skip school, it also hurts students whose parents may forget to call in when their child is absent or students who may need a day to mentally refocus and destress themselves for school.

“You have to look at the individual situation.”

“It shouldn’t automatically lead to students getting D’s and possibly even zeros for unexcused absences,” Pioneer Middle School civics teacher Jason Goodstein said. “You have to look at the individual situation, if it is just a rare mishap from a good student then letting them make up the work seems ideal, but if it’s consistent then it needs to be addressed and handled accordingly.”

Mental health days, frequently taken by well-intentioned students, also lead to consequences under the policy. Some students take mental health days in order to relieve themselves of stress when school seems too overwhelming. According to the district, this does not qualify as an excused absence, so parents with children who want to take a mental health day would have to lie about why their child is missing school that day.

“I don’t remember a time I let [Michael] stay home without being sick or some other reason that was necessary to miss school, but if he ever wanted to stay home just to keep himself stable mentally then I would understand,” junior Michael Rodriguez’s mother Cathy Rodriguez said. “It’s just, the thought that I would have to lie about [Michael] taking a day off for his mental health—a very important aspect in life—so his grades won’t be harmed doesn’t sit right with me.”

Now, with the change in policy, a student who takes a mental health day will be able to receive full credit for any work they missed when they weren’t in school, allowing them to take a break without having their grades suffer.

Photo by The Lariat Photography