The attendance policy at Monroe High allows students to have up to seven absences per trimester. After seven absences students automatically lose the credit for that class despite their current grade. If and when they take the final exam, the teacher has the option of allowing credit recovery for a 59.5% or above on the exam. At this point, the student will receive credit for that class but will receive an “F” on his/her transcript. Students may have absences excused and erased from attendance record only if they have a written excuse from a doctor, court ordered appearance or death in immediate family. A parent note for the purpose of excusing an absence will not be excused.
In my opinion, the attendance policy is unfair to students’ grades. If one has an A in the class and misses more than seven days, I feel it’s unfair to not allow him/her the grade for the class he/she earned . Grades are supposed to accurately record the student’s knowledge on that subject. If one learns the material, turns in the assignments and passes the tests, he/she should be graded accurately and fairly depending on your knowledge of the subject, not the amount of absences obtained.
I support the idea of attendance and grades having a positive relationship. It’s obvious that the more one comes to school, the better chance he/she has at learning the material and receiving a higher grade. What I don’t agree with is automatically losing a grade after a certain amount of absences. When a student misses school, it’s going to be harder to make up the work he/she has missed and catch up in that class but if the student puts in the effort to learn the material,he/she should receive the accurate grade depending on your homework and tests, not absences.
Every student has personal issues in his/her life, some more than others. Grades should exclusively rely on the student’s work and effort. Allow students to pass or fail on their own.