The Real Reason Schools Need To Stop Policing Attendance

During my senior year of high school, I missed a lot of school. Truth be told, I was just done. Things weren’t great for me at home. I had only a few easy classes left, and I was counting down the days until I could get away from it all and start college.

And you know what? No one batted an eye. I was 18 years old with an acceptance letter to an out-of-state college, and I was still doing the work and pulling good grades; that was all teachers cared about.

But a lot has changed.

I’m in a private group for mothers raising children with a chronic health condition. In that group, I see stories of harassment from schools over absences every single day.

One woman recently vented about a fight she is currently having with her son’s school. He is a straight-A student with a 504 plan excusing his absences due to his chronic illness. Every time he misses school, he makes the work up. But the principal has been threatening the family with summer school if this boy can’t improve upon his attendance. Not only that, but the school nurse called to ask for a direct line to the child’s doctor so the school could figure out how to keep him in class all day without having to call his parents. The family was being harassed with multiple phone calls, threats, and requests for meetings.

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