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[quote=Anonymous]SOURCE: https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/attendance-is-the-no-1-issue-facing-schools-how-dmv-schools-are-tackling-absenteeism/3992555/

[QUOTE]It's the kind of change teacher Andrea Lyons has been begging for in her Montgomery County, Maryland, high school.

“Attendance is the No. 1 thing we need to fix in order for education to go forward,” Lyons said. “If we can't get students in the door, we can’t do anything.”

The I-Team met with Lyons over the summer, where she told News4 how bad the tardiness and attendance problem had become.

“I teach five sections, and I have approximately 32 students in each section. And when the bell rings to start first period, I routinely have four to six students on time for first period,” she said.

What’s more, so many students miss so much class, her school sets aside a few days each quarter so students can complete late assignments.

“We spend a lot of time planning these engaging lessons that can't be done because you don't know who's going to show up every day. In addition, we have to stop our teaching and kind of freeze to let students make up work,” she said.

Montgomery County students who accrue 10 consecutive days of unexcused absences risk being withdrawn from school, according to MCPS policies reviewed by the I-Team. Lyons doesn’t want to see that happen, but said she believes the same policy lacks teeth because attendance doesn’t directly factor into a student’s grade.

Lyons said she’s worried too many students no longer see the value in being there.

“Students want to know: What assignments do I have to do and when do I get them to you and how do I get the points?’” she said.

Still, she said her school has made some changes this year she hopes will encourage more students to be in class and on time, like bringing back final exams in some subjects and putting a hard deadline on late assignments.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Montgomery County Public Schools said it is working to reduce chronic absenteeism with an “attendance action plan” that it’s been implementing for several years.

“Using data-driven strategies, every school has set measurable goals, monitored attendance closely, and provided targeted support for students. Systemwide messaging has raised awareness, and teams of school staff have worked with families to remove barriers to attendance,” the statement read.[/QUOTE]

For some reason, they name Woodbridge High School but they don't name Andrea Lyons' high school. But if you search her name, you see that she's a social studies teacher at Richard Montgomery High School.

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