Anonymous wrote:I went to a magnet HS in the 80s. We skipped class a lot . Sometimes I skipped to study for a test in another class. Sometimes I skipped to catch up on sleep because I had stayed up late to finish work or study. Sometimes I skipped to sit in on a class that I was self-studying for the AP. Sometimes I skipped to go to Pizza Hut.

You know when I didn't skip? When the class was covering material that I needed to learn. Most of the time I was skipping, it was the mandated stuff like Health class in which no substance was ever conveyed, or classes where the teacher was absent or had already announced we would be watching a movie or working on our papers or something.

My teen is pretty much the same. She is working pretty much round the clock on her activities and her classes. Does she skip class? Yes. Particularly when she knows the teacher is out, or when they have one of their catch-up days when no new material is covered. I'm not really losing any sleep over that. There are a lot of exams that can't be re-taken, and exams are worth 90% of the grade, plus there's the actual AP exam. So if she's skipping class when they cover material, she's going to struggle on those exams, and she knows it.

I do think part of the problem is that the poor teachers are so overworked, with so little planning/grading time, that they do have classes where the kids are working independently or in meaningless small groups to give the teachers a chance to catch up on grading. The kids know that this is a good time to skip. If MCPS gave the teachers more real grading periods, they could have substantive work/discussion in every class.

I also think MCPS makes it super easy for parents to track this. I get a call whenever she misses any class, plus parentvue shows you exactly which class they missed.

I do have criticisms of MCPS, but this is not really high on my list.

But they should start taking names of every kid they see vaping or doing drugs in the bathroom and send THOSE names home every single day.

Anonymous wrote:It's not just a B-CC problem, there school paper did an article on a problem at every school everywhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are the parents in all this? Parents also need to discipline their kids. Way back when for BCC it was that McDonald's.

Parents don’t even know.

The school isn’t calling parents every time a kid skips.

Not entirely true. The school sends automated robocalls and alerts when kids are marked absent, but there are SO many errors with attendance taking (subs who don't know what they're doing, teachers marking tardies as absences) etc. that it's impossible to know when those alerts are accurate or not. MCPS attendance protocols and systems are a mess.

I can see from my child's computer history, tracking on their phone, etc.

Find my Phone location tracking doesn't allow you to go back in time to see where they were, but maybe the Life360 app does?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are the parents in all this? Parents also need to discipline their kids. Way back when for BCC it was that McDonald's.

Parents don’t even know.

The school isn’t calling parents every time a kid skips.

Not entirely true. The school sends automated robocalls and alerts when kids are marked absent, but there are SO many errors with attendance taking (subs who don't know what they're doing, teachers marking tardies as absences) etc. that it's impossible to know when those alerts are accurate or not. MCPS attendance protocols and systems are a mess.

I can see from my child's computer history, tracking on their phone, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of a different view. By high school, it’s time to learn natural consequences. The kids who are driven & care about school will show up. The kids who are lazy & don’t care, won’t show up. No sweat of anyone’s back except the kids. In college nobody is going to monitor their attendance everyday.

That said, I am more inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to absenteeism at Kennedy than I am at BCC because Kennedy kids are more likely to be facing issues such as unstable housing, lack of transportation, lack of having their own cars if they miss the bus, having to stay home to watch siblings, hunger etc.

But that's the point: MCPS has taken away natural consequences. They just turn a blind and endlessly extend deadlines and allow multiple retakes. So screwing around loses any natural consequences to it.

I think it's ok to do multiple retakes but my only issue is kids don't put in the effort the first time. Here's an idea. As a parent, you monitor things and have expectations. Everyone blames MCPS but where are the parents?

Anonymous wrote:A teacher's perspective:
Having everything on MyMCPS makes it easier for a kid to speedrun late assignments and get caught up quickly. Applying late penalties is hard to keep track of for teachers, so there is often no penalty if things are turned in late.

The reality is that staff don't really know each student's personal challenges, so we default to just letting most things slide unless there are disruptions in class.

Anonymous wrote:Isn’t it the student’s responsibility? If they get straight As, I really don’t mind that my kids skip here and there. Both just skipped the afternoon because we came back late this morning from an Admitted students day for our oldest, out of state. My second skips sometimes when she’s preparing for auditions. If they’re not feeling well, there’s no reason for them to force themselves to class and contaminate everyone…

The kids who skip a ton a classes are few and far between, and do need to be checked up on for wellness, I think. But a few absences here and there is no big deal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are the parents in all this? Parents also need to discipline their kids. Way back when for BCC it was that McDonald's.

Parents don’t even know.

The school isn’t calling parents every time a kid skips.

Not entirely true. The school sends automated robocalls and alerts when kids are marked absent, but there are SO many errors with attendance taking (subs who don't know what they're doing, teachers marking tardies as absences) etc. that it's impossible to know when those alerts are accurate or not. MCPS attendance protocols and systems are a mess.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of a different view. By high school, it’s time to learn natural consequences. The kids who are driven & care about school will show up. The kids who are lazy & don’t care, won’t show up. No sweat of anyone’s back except the kids. In college nobody is going to monitor their attendance everyday.

That said, I am more inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to absenteeism at Kennedy than I am at BCC because Kennedy kids are more likely to be facing issues such as unstable housing, lack of transportation, lack of having their own cars if they miss the bus, having to stay home to watch siblings, hunger etc.

But that's the point: MCPS has taken away natural consequences. They just turn a blind and endlessly extend deadlines and allow multiple retakes. So screwing around loses any natural consequences to it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are the parents in all this? Parents also need to discipline their kids. Way back when for BCC it was that McDonald's.

Parents don’t even know.

The school isn’t calling parents every time a kid skips.

Anonymous wrote:I’m of a different view. By high school, it’s time to learn natural consequences. The kids who are driven & care about school will show up. The kids who are lazy & don’t care, won’t show up. No sweat of anyone’s back except the kids. In college nobody is going to monitor their attendance everyday.

That said, I am more inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to absenteeism at Kennedy than I am at BCC because Kennedy kids are more likely to be facing issues such as unstable housing, lack of transportation, lack of having their own cars if they miss the bus, having to stay home to watch siblings, hunger etc.

Anonymous wrote:A teacher's perspective:
Having everything on MyMCPS makes it easier for a kid to speedrun late assignments and get caught up quickly. Applying late penalties is hard to keep track of for teachers, so there is often no penalty if things are turned in late.

The reality is that staff don't really know each student's personal challenges, so we default to just letting most things slide unless there are disruptions in class.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are the parents in all this? Parents also need to discipline their kids. Way back when for BCC it was that McDonald's.

Parents don’t even know.

The school isn’t calling parents every time a kid skips.