Wake is changing how attendance is taken for online classes. Here’s what to expect.
The Wake County school system has changed how school attendance is counted now that all its students are starting the school year taking classes online instead of on campus.
Under the revised attendance policy, students who don’t participate in the online classes can avoid being marked as absent if they get in contact with their teachers.
Wake County school board members who approved the policy change on Tuesday say it’s not meant to give students a free pass from showing up for class during the extended use of remote instruction.
“Just because you’re marked in attendance doesn’t mean all I need to do is call in and check out,” said school board member Jim Martin. “The attendance policy is very different than the grading policy.”
The traditional way that schools take attendance is being upended due to the coronavirus pandemic, which led to more than 70% of North Carolina’s public school students starting the school year on Monday with remote instruction.
Schools used online classes to close out the last school year, but attendance was not taken. State lawmakers required attendance to be taken when remote instruction is used this school year.
School officials said the changes are based on guidance from the state Department of Public Instruction.
Under Wake’s revised policy, attendance would be taken differently during “on-site instruction days” and “remote instruction days.” The on-site instruction rules would remain the same with students still needing to be present for at least half the school day to not be marked absent.
New attendance rules for online classes
On remote instruction days, the revised policy says students would be counted as present if they meet either of these two requirements:
▪ A student completes their daily assignments, either online or offline; and/or a student is present in synchronous (live, real-time) instruction.
Or
▪ A student has a daily check or a two-way communication in a manner acceptable to the school with the appropriate teacher(s). The student would communicate with the homeroom teacher in elementary school and the course teachers listed on the student’s daily schedule in middle school and high school.
School board member Chris Heagarty said some teachers expressed concerns that the change could lead to “floods of students calling just to declare themselves present.”
But Paul Koh, assistant superintendent for student support services, said the policy is meant for unique situations, such as when a student can’t go online for a day because they’re taking care of their younger siblings.
“The work doesn’t stop at like, the student is here and gave me a text, or an email, or a call, and then that’s all the school is,” Koh said. “That’s not what this policy is trying to say.”
Koh said administrators could address the board’s concerns in the guidelines that will be developed to carry out the policy changes.
Based on the assurances, the board unanimously approved the changes
“A teacher can use this to count a student present,” Heagarty said. “It’s just about giving some options and making sure we can reach every student and allow for credits for special situations, say for example where someone doesn’t have access to a device or some special circumstance comes up.”
School districts are worried about losing state funding this year during the COVID-19 pandemic, since funding is based on the number of students who attend.
The State Board of Education passed a motion asking state lawmakers to not cut state funding for districts if enrollment drops this fall. Wake Superintendent Cathy Moore said she’s not optimistic that the request will be approved.
Wake is North Carolina’s largest school district with around 162,000 students. The district plans to only use remote instruction through at least Oct. 22. But even when in-person instruction resumes, school leaders still plan to use a mix of face-to-face and online classes due to state requirements that limit how many people can ride school buses and be on campus.
Duke will help with reopening decision
The school board approved a memorandum of understanding Tuesday with Duke University in support of its COVID Scientific Advisory Board. The Duke-based group will advise Wake but will not tell the district when to reopen.
“This is about building our capacity to make good decisions,” Moore said.
“It’s about building community and school staff knowledge and understanding of what data is and how decisions are made so that we have informed confidence when we go back into our buildings.”
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 2:14 PM.
