Atrocious Attendance
BHS has struggled with attendance for years, and it only seems to be getting worse year after year.
Attendance Office Room Number. The attendance office is where parents or guardians call in to let the school know their kid is excused from school. Mrs. Johnson is one of the assistant principals whose office is in there. “You don’t have that face to face with the teacher and you don’t have the chance to ask follow up questions if you don’t come to class,” BHS Assistant Principal Lynette Johnson said.
Finals were taken on Thursday, January 12, and Friday, January 13, 2023. Many students were exempt, while others took them because of attendance.
With the second semester starting, BHS has enforced a strict attendance policy. This policy states that if a student misses more than 10 days in a 90 day semester you will have to take all of your finals.
“Ultimately, the biggest consequence is your grade is going to suffer and you could lose credit,” BHS Assistant Principal Lynette Johnson said.
Teachers also have their thoughts on this new attendance policy.
“We need to go back to what we had before Covid,” BHS math teacher Shelly Wiedrich said. “The only thing that didn’t count against you as far as the final test was medicals, funerals, sports and so if you were sick and just at home it still counts against you for finals.”
The concern of students getting their work done at home while being sick is growing. Some students find it easier than others to get their work done at home and online.
“Developing those relationships with your classmates with your teachers and sometimes you can learn from your classmates,” Johnson said. “So when you’re not in class, it can be very detrimental.”
The administration is hoping the freshman this year will be different. Attendance rates for freshmen classes are consistently lower than senior classes, year after year.
“I would say it’s very typical that freshmen have lower attendance and more behavioral issues,” Johnson said. “I challenge every class to having the highest attendance rate again.”
BHS wants to establish skills for their students. They want their students to learn early instead of later, when it can be too late.
“You have to be there to do the job,” Johnson said. “You have to be in school if you want to get the most out of it.”
Staff and administration seems to see a change once the kids begin to turn 16. They believe this is because once a student is 16, they can legally drop out.
“There’s not another option,” Johnson said. ”Once you get over 16 years we have an alternative school that some kids that don’t attend on a regular basis find a little more to their liking.”
BHS administration finds attendance is the main reason students have to take finals.
“There are few now that it’s because of the number of late assignments or missing assignments, but overall I would say most of them have to do with attendance,” Wiedrich said.
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Katie enjoys rodeo, cross country and track. When not doing homework or playing clarinet, she is found having fun with friends and being with her family....
