At Emerson Junior Senior High School, students with a hybrid class schedule have stumbled into issues when following their schedule, specifically on in-person days. Many students face sudden issues such as illness or family emergencies which prevent them from walking into the school building. However, these students are not allowed to report virtually to their classes for attendance.

To adjust to these new times, the junior-senior high school has changed their ways of educating. At the beginning of the school year, all students had to choose whether they wanted to attend their classes virtually or partially in person. After this decision is submitted, the student must follow their schedule and report to their exact type of learning for that day. 

Although this year in school rules and guidelines have changed, the standard attendance remains in the Student Handbook, confirming, “State law requires school attendance for students ages 5-18. District policy permits students to accumulate up to 12 unexcused class absences in a yearlong course and 6 in a semester course.”

When a student wakes up feeling sick on a day of in-person classes, they have no choice but to take an absence because of these new times of health guidelines. However, having resources available, such as Google Meet, the student still would be able to tune into the class. If they are able to go virtual and be marked present for the time of their unpredicted illness, then they would be able to attend school and receive credit as they would if they were in person.

A parent at Emerson Junior-Senior High School shares their thoughts about this rule in a parental perspective, stating, “If the illness is temporary and can be handled, my child should be able use their online resources to attend school in replacement of their in-person class.”

The work assigned in classes would be completed by students during virtual sessions. Students that may have to go virtual for a day would still be participating in class and would complete the work given. By being engaged in the classes, a student should be accounted for in the class attendance. An absence would suggest that a student could not be seen in the actual class, to which it is inaccurately describing a student’s presence in a sudden virtual class. 

A school or class absence is when a student cannot be seen in their class or in school. According to Collins Dictionary, a school absence is defined as, “A measure of the number of children who attend school and the amount of time they are present.”

However, in some cases, students may not feel motivated to actually tune into the virtual class because they would automatically be marked absent. This would cause the student the need to catch up with work and the teacher to teach what they missed. Having the option for virtual classes allows the student to keep up in their classes and the teacher to move on with their lesson. This change would save time on both the teacher and the student’s part.

An Emerson student, Isabella Del Valle, shares her stance on this attendance rule, and her observations on its action, explaining, “Personally I think that it is very simple minded to have students marked absent if they go virtual for the day when they are supposed to be in person. My point of view is if you are in person or virtual it should still be recorded that you were in school. No matter what type of way you join class for the day, you are still learning and I don’t think that students should be penalized for not being in school and going online for the day instead.”

Enforced school policies would cause unnecessary consequences. Students who are unable to attend physical class could be punished from the absences given in each class. Even when the student can be seen participating and working in the virtual class, his or her teacher has no choice but to mark them absent. These absences will add up, to which the student could receive undeserved punishments for their responsible choice to be virtual.

There are both short and long term consequences that students can receive having an excessive amount of class absences. According to the 2020-2021 Emerson Junior-Senior High School Handbook, “Once the limit is exceeded, students receive no course credit, regardless of class performance.”

Students may feel pressured to go into school for attendance purposes, even when they may not be in the condition to do so. This breach in health and cleanliness within the school environment will pose a risk to other staff and students. If the pressure and worries of receiving an absence were removed, a student would be able make decisions for the best of their health and others. 

A student at Emerson, Ava Mokrzecki, explains her thoughts on this rule. “There are many reasons a student might have to stay home on a day they are expected to go to school, like being sick, a family emergency, etc. Despite those events, students’ attendance should still be accounted for since they are putting in extra effort to go to class when they don’t need to be”.

By allowing students the option for a virtual class when in poor health protects the school from possible health risks. They would be able to both take the time to monitor their health and keep track of their school work. This implication would ensure that all students walking into the building are healthy and pose no risk of transmitting the virus or any other illness.

The school district must follow the state’s guidelines regarding health safety in schools. According to the New Jersey Department of Health, “Parents/caregivers should be strongly encouraged to monitor their children for signs of illness every day as they are the front line for assessing illness in their children. Students who are sick should not attend school in-person.”

It is imperative that the school not only focuses on student attendance and engagement, but also the health of the school and those spending time in it. The school system needs to make changes in order to protect both a student’s permanent record and their health.