Reply to Truancy In DC HS Is Shocking - Why No Urgency To Address?!!

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]On the other side of the coin, I’m getting tired of the repeated nasty grams DCPS is sending me for excused absences. My kid missed a week with a high fever.  I’ve gotten emails, texts, letters, and voicemails reminding me how important it is to be in school. I’m expecting Hagrid to break into my cabin any minute. [/quote]

The funny thing about this is lots of kids have the wrong phone number, no email, wrong address, etc.  in the system.  So most of those letters and texts go no where.[/quote]

How is that possible? You have to register for DCPS every year. And, there are no pre-filled forms. Also, if you fill out an attendance form you have to put in your phone number and email. [/quote]

Do you really not understand that many people who happen to have chronically absent or truant kids may not have addresses or phone numbers that are consistent for very long? May have no regular email or internet access? Or are bad at filling out paperwork? Or don't care enough to do so? There are lots of schools in DC where a huge part of the registrar's job will be trying to get at least some paperwork on the kids who show up for school, tracking down parents to fill out forms well after school has started because they certainly didn't submit it on time when asked the prior year. Do you think that registrar is verifying that the phone numbers and emails on every single submission packet are correct? They don't have the bandwidth for that. For many of these students, they are lucky to even get to a point of signed paperwork so that the kid can be legally enrolled.

So many of you are coming at this with only a UMC person's understanding of how school works. You have NO IDEA how this actually works in the parts of DC where poverty and homelessness are common and families have few resources.[/quote]

Of course I understand that, but they're not able to competently handle it at JR, which was my earlier point. The admin has no idea who is at school or not at JR. Of course, that doesn't bode well for other schools. That's the point. But, I also contend that if the attendance officers aren't doing their job, then who's to say the registrars are either. Also, Pew reported that the vast majority of people have cell phones, including those with HHI under $30K. [/quote]

Yes people have cell phones.  Sometimes they change numbers.  Sometimes the cell phone gets cutoff for a period of time.  Sometimes kids are registered by grandma but move back in with their parent or another family member.  Grandma gives her phone number, not the parent.  And sometimes they give the wrong number on purpose.  Why? Because they don’t want phone calls from the school.[/quote]

Exactly. DCPS has plenty of incompetence issues but it's also important to understand the challenges they face. It's so frustrating when so many of the people loudly complaining about DCPS policies or procedures don't understand fundamental challenges o running schools in a district with high poverty.[/quote]

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