Robbinsville – Citing a lack of participation from remote learning only students, Graham County Schools is amending its attendance policy.
At the board of education meeting Tuesday, assistant superintendent Robert Moody outlined the changes, which includes a special section dedicated solely to students that opt out of in-person instruction.
Moody noted that the board shifted to a stricter policy at the beginning of the 2019-20 school year, but the COVID-19 pandemic proverbially dismantled the effort. Instead, systems across North Carolina are noting a correlation between remote-learning students and high absence rates.
“We can’t just let them log in and say they’re present. They can say they’re present, but not do their work,” Moody said. “As long as they do their work for each day, they will be counted present.”
Moody also pointed out that due to the gaps prior to the amendments, repeated attendance violations were not receiving proper recognition in court cases. The county has been and will continue to send School Resource Officers out to check on chronically absent students, with letters sent out after three, six and 10 days of successive absences.
“I think that we’ll always have remote (learning), from here on out. It will always be an option,” Moody said. “We’ve got to figure out someway to have something over their head, to get them to do their work. This attendance policy is the best day to do it.”
The changes include:
* In order for a student to be counted present for any given instructional day, they must complete their daily assignments – online or offline – and/or be present for real-time, online instruction
* Students in grades K-8 must check in with their homeroom instructor, while grades 9-12 must check in with each course instructor
Food truck
Superintendent Angie Knight pitched the board on a $20,000 expense, but the money will more than pay off in the long run.
Between private donations, a GoFundMe page and a contribution from the Robbinsville High School Student Council, roughly $20,000 has been raised for Graham County Schools to buy a food truck, which would deliver meals throughout the week to students.
However, Knight’s estimate of a truck costing roughly $40,000 was all the board needed to hear, as the urgency of making sure children are receiving nutrition far outweighs the price tag. Knight added that the process is now exacerbated by the system’s shift to “Plan C,” in which all students will remote learn for three weeks.
“That decision was not made lightly,” Knight said of the change. “We have students that will go back into situations that are unsafe. We have students that will go back into situations where there’s food insecurity. We really struggle to get food to students that are learning remotely.
“I also think we’re always going to have remote kids. In the near future and the not-so-near future, a food truck would be something feasible to use.”
The board unanimously voted to put another $20,000 toward the purchase, which gives the system a chance to begin shopping for a truck.
Graham County Schools also announced that beginning after press time Wednesday, meals are being delivered to the First Baptist Church, Santeetlah Baptist Church, the Snowbird/Santeetlah intersection, Stecoah Baptist Church and Sweetgum Baptist Church. The meals will be available throughout the three-week, remote learning period from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. All children ages 1-18 – regardless of enrollment or income – are eligible to receive the meals.