The Westerville City School District is reviewing its attendance policy to adapt to remote instruction for the 2020-21 school year.
The current policy defines student attendance by classroom seat time. Under the proposed changes presented at the Aug. 24 school board meeting, student attendance during remote instruction would be tracked in several ways, including daily logins to learning management systems, daily interactions with the teacher, and the completion of assignments.
Excused absences during remote learning may be considered with a notice from a parent/guardians under certain circumstances, including a temporary internet outage; unexpected technical difficulties, such as password resets or software upgrades during a teacher-led remote learning lesson; computer or device malfunction; or a malfunction of a district-owned device.
The proposed changes to the policy also outline medical excuses that won’t be counted towards a student of being excessively absent. They include illness in the family that necessitates the presence of the child, quarantining at home, and health-care provider appointments. Currently, students who are absent at least seven days are considered “excessively absent,” which will trigger school intervention efforts such as a truancy intervention plan or counseling.
The board will hold its second reading on the proposed changes at its Sept. 14 regular meeting.