LAWRENCE COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Lawrence County will no longer have excused or unexcused absences starting this school year.

The school board approved the change in late June.

"This is important to come to school each and every day," Director of Schools for Lawrence County Michael Adkins said during the recorded meeting. "And if you have got the sniffles, that is fine; you are going to have them when you go to work one day."

"They brought this policy in without doing their due diligence and doing their research," Lawrence County parent Chuck Braden said.

In just a couple of weeks, students will either be marked present or absent, removing the excused or unexcused labels. The school will start intervention after three absences and may petition the court for truancy after eight.

In an attendance policy clarification, the Director writes: "Some may interpret these interventions as excessive or rigid, which is not the intent. These interventions are meant to help — not to scare or penalize."

He added that early communication with parents is a priority: "These measures are not our first step — they are our last resort."

According to the policy, regardless of a doctor's note, you are either at school or you are not.

"We had one principle reported that they had 68 chronically absent students. Forty of those had 20 or better days and all of them were doctor's notes," Adkins said during the meeting. "Our belief is: come to school."

There are exceptions, including: death in the family, religious reasons, military events and chronic illness, with a physician's signature.

Some board members say the change encourages work ethic while also addressing chronic absenteeism in the district.

"How dare all of you think you know more than the parents and medical providers?" Braden said. "I don't know what the solution to that is, but there has to be one better than this one."

State data from the 2023-2024 State Report Card shows about 15% of all Lawrence County students missed 10% or more instructional days of school. Nearly a quarter of those students were economically disadvantaged.

A mother and nurse practitioner in the area believes it would be challenging to require chronically ill students to get a note from a physician for some families.

"In our area in particular, there are not a lot of physicians that see kids," Elizabeth Beal explained.

"It is going to hurt the middle class and the poor," Braden said.

The surrounding counties all reported slightly higher rates of chronic absenteeism:

• Wayne: 16.4%
• Maury: 18.8%
• Lewis: 23%
• Giles: 17%

The district also notified local doctors about the change asking them to discourage "doctor hopping."

Parents are demanding a voice in this policy.

"When we contacted the Board of Education, we were told that since it was not on the agenda, we could not be heard, and I think that is crazy," Braden said.

Some parents have cited concerns over potential federal privacy law violations and disregard for students' health.

"They are talking about sending these kids to school with the sniffles because we have to do it as adults," Braden said. "They are kids. They are not adults."

"In the short term, it's sending the message that being there in the seat is more important than feeling like participating," Beal said. "In the long run, we are training them to not listen to their bodies and not take care of themselves in the long run. I saw a comment today that said, 'We are just training the next generation not to use their PTO days.'"

The Director of Schools told New 2 the district will track attendance as a determiner of its efficiency saying, "LCSS will monitor and implement interventions throughout the year to assist our students with attendance challenges."

When asked if there is room for future improvement, he said, "There is room for any policy to be clarified for better understanding."

School board member Chad Shannon told News 2 he has placed the subject on next month's agenda and will revisit it in August.

Shannon sent a statement to News 2. It read in part:

"What it means by putting it on the agenda is not only to allow public comments, but it also breaks this policy out singularly so we can vote on it, and the community can see where we all stand. Furthermore, it allows us to add or take away after community input. I am currently working on a new policy proposal that allows the truancy and chronic absenteeism to be broke into two sections of the policy. It will be very clear. Anytime you have to send a white letter out to further explain the intentions of any policy, I feel a board has failed to propose their intentions clearly to the people. This is unacceptable."

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/come-to-school-new-lawrence-county-school-policy-targets-absenteeism/