School Committee discusses new attendance policy
By Hilary Shepard Contributing Writer

Westborough - The Westborough School Committee discussed a new attendance policy and recording system that would focus on accountability and, committee Chair Rod Jané said, "make sure kids are in class, receiving the value of the education we are paying a lot of money for."

John Smith, Westborough High School's principal, presented the new attendance plan, which uses a computer program called Connect-Ed. According to Smith, Westborough High School (WHS) has no records of last year's attendance because the old system was so ineffective. The old system, which was developed when the school was only 750 students as opposed to 1,100 now, relied on the collection of small pieces of paper, known as pink slips.

Under the old system, a parent or guardian were required to visit the school office to sign a pink slip within five days of a student's absence. It was only after the five-day grace period that the school followed up on an unexcused absence with a phone call home. The old system did not accurately track absences that never received a signed pink slip. Therefore, according to Smith, the school did not know how many cumulative absences a student had. Last year, the penalty for seven unexcused absences was the loss of half a credit, and 15 unexcused absences resulted in the loss of a full credit. No credit was removed last year, simply because the total amount of absences per student was not known.

According to Smith, the new system would be completely automated in the Connect-Ed system. As soon as a student was reported absent and entered into the system, a computer-generated phone call, and series of email messages, would go out to the parent or guardian.

"For at-risk students," Jané, "this is a great way to get at them in real time," as opposed to the five-day lag in the old system.

Another key diff erence in the proposed new system is a change in the numbers that would constitute removal of credit. Eighteen unexcused absences in a full-year course would result in full loss of credit, as opposed to 15 in the old system. Nine unexcused absences in a half-year course would result in full loss of credit, as opposed to seven before.

The new, higher numbers, according to Smith, are based on Massachusetts Department of Education attendance guidelines.

At the end of Smith's presentation, the School Committee raised a few issues: one, was the number of absences allowed too high? And two, would parents take advantage of the automated system and be more likely to take their children out of school for nonessential reasons like vacations?

Smith's proposal will be availably shortly on the WHS Web site. Input from the community is welcomed.

Smith hopes the new attendance policy will "make sure kids go to school," and further strengthen WHS's outstanding academic track record.

Evidence of this record came in Assistant Superintendent Marianne O'Connor's report of the Advanced Placement (AP) scores from the 2007 graduating class. AP tests are graded on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest possible. Students receiving a 3, 4 or 5 can often receive college credit, or place out of certain levels of the class.

According to O'Connor, 44.7 percent of the 2007 graduation class took an AP test, and received a 3 or higher. This percentage is "much higher" according to O'Connor than other area public schools, and most top private schools as well.

In response, committee member Stephen Doret said statistics like that are "why this community pays what it does for education."