Since the end of Christmas break, Stamford High School has adopted a new attendance policy. This meant many changes, including a multi-tiered system of support for students who are struggling with attendance. However, the most important change of all is undoubtedly the decision to remove the loss-of-credit rule for students who exceed 10 or 5 absences for full-year and half-year courses, respectively.

The new attendance policy was initially received poorly by many parents across the district. To them, it seemed like this change would only cause more students to miss class, as the threat of losing credit was now essentially non-existent. Additionally, many argued that the attendance policy, since it applied to all grade levels, would set a bad precedent for underclassmen who would feel more pressure to skip classes frequently and develop this habit (to eventually be carried on throughout all four years of high school).

Although these initial concerns about the new attendance policy had their justifications, after about a month of its implementation, a noticeable damage to the students is yet to be seen. For one, there has not been a quantitatively measurable rise in student absence rates, nor has there been any other indications that students are out of class more than usual. In many classes, teachers have increased the amount of physical/in-person work as well, which acts as an incentive for students to attend class and not miss out on valuable material. Additionally, there will always be a mechanism to ensure students attend class – if a student misses tests/quizzes, they will have to make them up on their own time or risk failing the class. The attendance policy also has provisions in the event that a student decides to ignore these incentives and cut class frequently. The “multi-tiered system of support” that was sent to students and parents detailed different levels of action for students who miss severe amounts of class time. These actions can include phone calls to parents, private meetings, and even home visits.

Overall, despite the perceived threat of the attendance policy causing students to miss class, this threat has not manifested in the one month since the policy was introduced. Additionally, the existing incentives for students to attend class prove quite the opposite, ensuring that Stamford High has present students and can continue its educational success.