Seniors also need more days for college visits. DC is invited to a 2 day scholarship interview in Texas, that's 4 days absence minimum

MY DC @ Wilson gets absences from school activities, sometimes, when the teacher doesn't file the right forms. Have had absences for student council business, field trips. Impossible to fix, you email the attendance counselor or relevant teacher and nothing happens. The year DC got mono, half the absences were not counted excused, though we had a doctor's note for 8 days off. Seems like the system wouldn't let them input that many days and they just shelved it

This explains why Wilson jumped for graduation rates in the low 70s to mid 80s over the course of a few years while everything else stayed the same. DCPS are a mess with no good options. I would be more livid if we didn’t already know this and have quality private options all around us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you miss 1st period at Wilson you are marked absent for the day.

Makes no sense to me.

Which would mean every time you have a doctor or dentist appointment, you are marked absent. So I guess we can't really accept these statistics as a valid picture of attendance at any school. I'm skeptical just based on the errors on my own kids attendance records. Between 2 kids in K-8, no tone year has been accurate, and according to neighbors, the high school record keeping is significantly less organized.

Go to the doctor/dentist on the weekend, on a holiday, on one of the MANY Fridays the schools are closed, or over the summer. Not that difficult. Stop making excuses.

Anonymous wrote:The Chancellor was just on Kojo Njamdi show and my head now hurts from all the double speak. Not one straight answer.

I just listened to the broadcast https://thekojonnamdishow.org/audio/#/shows/2018-01-17/investigating-a-graduation-scandal-dc-schools-chancellors-antwan-wilson/111083/@00:00. I cannot disagree that it wasn't confidence inspiring. There's a line between projecting calmness and being intellectually dishonest and/or dismissive...he is on the wrong side of that line. What concerns me the most is that the best chance to address these types of problems is an outsider who can come in and say, "I'm not ok with this. And I will fix it." He doesn't seem to have a problem with it! There's an interesting moment at the end where the last caller calls BS on his prior 15 minutes talking about the makeup classes. If the caller is correct then I'm not sure the Chancellor's prior responses don't rise to the level of intentional obfuscation, or even lies. The interviewer falls all over himself thanking the Chancellor for taking uncomfortable calls and being willing to answer questions...that's his job! And he lets him off the hook with a non-answer about the memo that went out under his watch telling schools to use the make-up process.

I don't know this man. I don't have an ax to grind. I don't work for the WTU (or even like them very much). But if this is reflective of his leadership (such as that word can be used to describe his performance) then I'm not very optimistic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you miss 1st period at Wilson you are marked absent for the day.

Makes no sense to me.

Which would mean every time you have a doctor or dentist appointment, you are marked absent. So I guess we can't really accept these statistics as a valid picture of attendance at any school. I'm skeptical just based on the errors on my own kids attendance records. Between 2 kids in K-8, no tone year has been accurate, and according to neighbors, the high school record keeping is significantly less organized.

And we wonder about the students, we are talking about UNEXCUSED ABSENCES, provide a note from a parent, they don't even ask for a doctor note and it is excused. So if a child is sick in bed it means that the parent despite being contacted can not be bothered to write a note to say their child is sick. And yes, they accept notes in any language! That's all they have to do, heck no one is even checking the handwriting, but no one is sending any kind of notification - yes that is a big problem!

The absenteeism goals and stats in this thread don’t distinguish between excuses and unexcused. Missing less than 5% of school days is the goal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you miss 1st period at Wilson you are marked absent for the day.

Makes no sense to me.

Which would mean every time you have a doctor or dentist appointment, you are marked absent. So I guess we can't really accept these statistics as a valid picture of attendance at any school. I'm skeptical just based on the errors on my own kids attendance records. Between 2 kids in K-8, no tone year has been accurate, and according to neighbors, the high school record keeping is significantly less organized.

And we wonder about the students, we are talking about UNEXCUSED ABSENCES, provide a note from a parent, they don't even ask for a doctor note and it is excused. So if a child is sick in bed it means that the parent despite being contacted can not be bothered to write a note to say their child is sick. And yes, they accept notes in any language! That's all they have to do, heck no one is even checking the handwriting, but no one is sending any kind of notification - yes that is a big problem!

Anonymous wrote:If you miss 1st period at Wilson you are marked absent for the day.

Makes no sense to me.

Which would mean every time you have a doctor or dentist appointment, you are marked absent. So I guess we can't really accept these statistics as a valid picture of attendance at any school. I'm skeptical just based on the errors on my own kids attendance records. Between 2 kids in K-8, no tone year has been accurate, and according to neighbors, the high school record keeping is significantly less organized.

Didn’t the chancellor inherit these problems though?

Chancellor is in over his head. Bad choice for DCPS unfortunately.

I am actually really curious about attendance at those extended year schools now...

The Chancellor was just on Kojo Njamdi show and my head now hurts from all the double speak. Not one straight answer.

So when your children go to college will you be okay with them missing 10-20% of their class time?

It’s ironic so many people here complain about dcps education but then make excuses for not even having to show up.

Anonymous wrote:I haven't gotten past the first page of elitest attitudes that the school year is so long. I wonder why you all are okay with just being okay. Because compared to other countries we are behind.

But enjoy your ski trip!

who cares about a longer school year of the kids don't show up. You really think they woudl go to school versus hanging out the pool in the summer. Anyhow, by HS they are so far behind and pretty much on the same level as 8 year olds, whats the point. Time for real skill and vocational training.