Brockport Central School District
implements new attendance policy

The Brockport Central School District will have a new attendance procedure in place for middle and high school students returning to school in September. Regulations set last year by the New York State Board of Regents requires all school districts in the state to take and report attendance every class period.

During the trial period last year, Brockport's Comprehensive Attendance Planning Team (CAPT), made up of parents, staff, and administrators, came up with ways to implement the new period-by-period attendance system. The committee worked through various scenarios, such as how to report absences when a class is on a field trip or if a student came in late or needed to leave early for an appointment. Plans are also in place for weather-delayed buses and power outages that would prevent the use of GradeQuick software for electronic reporting of attendance. "We've also tried out different reporting formats for principals," said Bob Conrad, assistant superintendent for instruction and personnel. "And we are keeping all our options open. We need to monitor the new system and may adjust some things as the year goes on."

BCSD, however, did not have far to go to meet the state's new regulations. "We really are ahead of the game," said Conrad. "Teachers at the high school have been taking period-by-period attendance as part of an attendance policy the district implemented in the mid-nineties."

At the middle school, attendance will be taken several times a day. "Every teacher who has taught first period before has reported attendance using the software," said Ann Sweeting, principal. "But now every teacher has to take attendance every period, except for lunch." Staff not familiar with the software received training over the summer.

"Since the attendance rate is already high, our focus shifts to helping the handful of students with chronic attendance patterns and getting those students to attend school more frequently," said Sweeting. "We will send more letters home, make more phone calls, and even home visits to remind families of the importance of attending school. It really is a safety issue too," she added. "It is important we know where all the students are throughout the day." To encourage the students to keep up their attendance, middle school staff recognize those students with perfect attendance.

Attendance is also important at the elementary schools." Although the attendance-taking procedures at the elementary level will not change, since the students stay with the same teacher, staff continue to monitor student attendance patterns," said Conrad. Students at the elementary level and throughout the district are awarded for good attendance and staff work closely with families where there may be an attendance problem.

Parents should call the attendance office at their child's school if their child will not be at school. The entire attendance policy is available on the district's web site at http://brockport.k12.ny.us.