On Aug. 22, Montgomery County issued a new action plan to improve school attendance. The proposed plan has two phases. The first phase is to analyze absenteeism data, gather feedback from stakeholders, and develop school-specific attendance plans. The second phase highlights the start of an “attendance promotion campaign” focusing on younger students and their families.
According to Moco360, by the end of last school year, 2,262 out of a pool of 50,500 high school students districtwide were put on attendance improvement plans. Attendance affects success rates in class. “Kids that score lower on the AP exam were chronically absent. My students that were in class were successful, and I was able to build relationships with them,” said AP Biology teacher Ms. Mey. “Being present in class is crucial because if you’re not here, how are you going to experience and learn?”
According to B-CC attendance secretary Mr. Avila, in the 2022 -2023 school year, there were 34,879.5 absences at B-CC, and 25% of B-CC students were chronically absent, meaning they were absent for more than 10% of the school year.
Junior Luke Burns said, “People skip class a lot, and there is basically no punishment for skipping class.” Although skipping takes place across the county, it has intensified at B-CC. Junior Brielle Anderson said, “Because our school is in downtown Bethesda, it is convenient for students to go anywhere but class. Starbucks or school.”
Grady Petersen, a sophomore at B-CC, questions whether this two phase attendance plan will work. He said, “High schoolers tend to do whatever they want, no matter the rules.”
B-CC administration has made attendance improvement a priority initiative for the year and plans to gather and carefully study attendance data to better inform their responses to absenteeism. Teachers have been asked to contact parents and guardians when students miss three consecutive days of school and to alert counseling and administration if a pattern of absence persists.
