CC school board adds K-6 to tardy, attendance policy

    Students in grades 7-12 at Chase County Schools have abided by a tardy/attendance policy for a number of years.
    After board action Tuesday, K-6 students and their parents now have a policy with tardy and attendance guidelines to follow.
    On a 7-1 vote, the CCS board approved additions to the school’s policy addressing tardies and attendance for younger students.
    CCS and other area schools have been participating in the county’s Truancy Diversion Program with Karen Baker in the county attorney’s office.
    Supt. Adam Lambert said at a recent meeting with Baker it was recommended that the school’s policy be extended to include K-6 students.
    He noted CCS is required to turn in truancies to the state of Nebraska for all K-12 grades.
    K-6 Principal Becky Odens added without any policy for K-6 students, action can’t proceed to address the consistent tardies with some students.
    She said there is no policy in writing now for K-6.
    “The worst thing that happens to a fifth or sixth grader for being tardy is I call their parents,” Odens said.
    “Without a tardy policy, a lawyer can’t do anything about a kid who shows up at 10 o’clock every day,” she added.
    Now, if a student is 45 minutes late, they are counted tardy in the school office. If after that time, it’s an absence.
    She said if they’re missing 45 minutes of language arts, that’s detrimental to the student.
    For 5-12 students the revised policy reads, “A tardy is defined as up to five minutes missed at the beginning of a period. Anything over five minutes will be counted as an absence. Almost all tardiness, except possibly caused by transportation before school, is avoidable.”
    Until Tuesday’s vote, the above wording only applied to 9-12.
    Regarding the policy for K-4 students, board members made some changes to what was proposed. Lambert was directed to rewrite the policy stating any student late 16 minutes or more will be considered absent for that half day.
    Odens noted that K-4 attendance is measured in half-days as per state guidelines.
    If the child is late in the morning more that 15 minutes, it will only count as an absence for the morning, according to the discussion. The same applies to the afternoon.
    After 15 days absent are recorded for a student in Chase County, they are considered truant, Lambert said. The state measures it by 20 days.
    While the policy changes passed, some board members questioned parts of it.
    Carrie Terryberry said it’s important all teachers be on the same page in reporting tardies. Now, anyone entering the school after the 8 a.m. bell must go through the main office, so the administrators believe it will be consistent because their arrival at school is recorded there.
    Willy O’Neil questioned why “16 minutes” missed is considered an absence vs. a tardy.
    “There’s a huge leap from a kid being 15 minutes late to being four hours late,” he said.
    “My question is the gap and jumping from a small tardy to a whole half day of absence.”
    Lambert said earlier in the meeting that the tardiness program in the lower grades is a different situation from the older students, noting elementary students don’t drive themselves to school.
    He said Baker noted extending the policy to lower grades will aid the judge when it gets to that point, and it puts some “teeth in getting after the parents because, truly, it’s a truancy program for the parents.”
    Lambert said there isn’t a huge problem with truancy at CCS, but he thinks it’s a positive move that the county is taking the issue seriously.
    Odens added that having the program on the high school level has helped in the elementary because some younger students who were late for school aren’t late anymore because their siblings in high school have to be on time.
    The high school has a Wednesday after-school program that works in conjunction with the Truancy Diversion Program, helping students to catch up on work. That will be starting up for the new school year soon, said 7-12 Principal Christopher Barr.
    Lambert noted that there are allowances for excused absences, such as for doctor appointments, funerals, etc. Excused absences are not a factor in this policy discussion, he said.
    Voting for the changes and policy additions were Karl Meeske, Linsey Foote, Cindy Arterburn, Jeff Olsen, Dan Reeves, Steve Wallin and Terryberry. O’Neil voted no.
    In other action, the board approved the 2022-23 budget and property tax request. That and other board action will be covered next week.