By Brendon Wen and Henry Chen, Class of 2025
Sharon High School’s new attendance policy soars with flying colors as principal Kristen Keenan and the Sharon School Committee commended recent student attendance statistics and feedback at the January 8 Committee meeting.
With a new attendance policy, the SHS administration recorded a 17% decrease in absences and a 35% decrease in tardies compared to last year. The 2024-2025 SHS Handbook details a “credit reduction procedure” that emphasizes consistent attendance “for academic success and personal growth.” Students may lose 1 credit in semester-long courses for every five unexcused absences; they’ll lose 1 credit in year-long courses for every 10 unexcused absences. The policy adds, “credit lost due to unexcused absences can impact a student’s progress towards graduation.”
Administration will mark illness-related absences as excused only if students turn in a doctor’s note.
Although School Committee members praised the efficacy of the new policy, they shared concerns about students coming to school sick and the consequences of unexcused absences.
In response to School Committee member Allan Motenko’s concerns about students’ health, Principal Keenan reassured she was “not seeing an increased level of sickness [and that] no one is encouraging students to come to school sick.” She explained that she checks in with the nurse’s office routinely.
She also addressed Committee member Dan Newman’s question about the consequences of unexcused absences, stating, “I don’t think there are those consequences [that jeopardize NHS and college applications]. Significant absences in a year can be easily explained to organizations and colleges.”
In the Common App and other similar platforms that streamline the college application process, students can toggle to the “Additional Information” tab to add certain information missing from the rest of their application such as unexplained prolonged absences.
Feedback from teachers has been largely positive, reflecting the effect the attendance policy has on classroom dynamics and student engagement.
Forensics teacher Ms. Mary Nitschke noted that it was “not possible to do any group work or whole class learning during the first block because students just trickled in all morning.” She said the new policy improved timeliness of students, leading to a “greater continuity of learning for all. ”
United States history teacher Mrs. Jennifer Feldman observed similar changes, mentioning that this year, “students taking their attendance seriously.” She explained unlike previous years since Covid-19, she no longer has a long list of students who missed work due to absences. Feldman attributes all this success to the new attendance policy and its emphasis on student accountability.
“It’s really been the goal of all the teachers and administration to work toward better attendance,” said Principal Keenan.
Improvement in attendance may also be attributed to the new “senior privilege.” In late November, SHS administration rolled out a program permitting seniors to leave at the start of ACES, 2:20 p.m., provided they meet the course and attendance requirements each quarter.
Cover photo of SHS from Wikipedia Commons.
