[ot-caption title=”Mr. Pierson shows off the new sign that reminds teachers to send in their attendance. (via Alana Kosches, Freshman)” url=”https://pcpawprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mr-pierson.jpg”]

This year’s new administration has brought forth a stricter reinforcement of the attendance policy.  Every absence in a class is noted, and at ten absences, a student faces a grade point deduction in that particular class.  This rule has generated controversy in the Pine Crest community, and begs the question…

Is the attendance policy fair?

[accordion][acc title=”Yes – Alyssa Dern”] The positive view of the new attendance policy is that all absences count toward the overall total of absences.  Before, students would make up excuses for absences, making them “excused” and off the count.  Often, students would convince their parents to excuse their absences, such as making up a doctor’s appointment or another commitment to excuse a student from class.  I believe that this system was unfair because a student with a legitimate reason to miss a class could have it counted against him or her while another student who made something up could have his or her record clean.

Now, no matter what the reason is for the absence, it will be added to the ongoing semester count. This system makes more sense because students cannot complain that certain absences should count based on comparisons to other students’ absences.  This year’s attendance policy makes it easier for the administration to make decisions.  For example, the administration no longer has to decide which case of absence is a more valid excuse than another case of absence, on a one by one basis.  All absences will be counted in the same way for all students.[/acc][/accordion]

[accordion][acc title=”No – Madeleine Turner”] On Orientation Day, students were greeted by the smiling faces of Pine Crest’s new Upper School Administration. After welcomes and introductions, we got down to the rules. The administration shone a spotlight on the previously instated attendance policy, and as I looked around at my fellow sophomores, I saw their jaws drop. Looks of disbelief graced the faces of many students in the auditorium. The idea that missing school could cause a deduction in the grade of a class after 10 absences a semester startled many students. Sometimes an absence is necessary for a cold, an injury, a family emergency, an out of town trip or whatever the case may be. The administration seemed to forget this fact.

During Orientation, Mr. Pierson kept comforting students with the line “I know how tough it is to be a Pine Crest student…,” yet these rules relieve no strain on our hard-worked minds. From the view of a teacher or administrator, it is clear to see why this attendance policy seems acceptable. A teacher does not want students to miss class and administrators do not want students to miss school. But, the reality is that things happen. People get sick, sometimes very sick for an extended period of time. People have injuries. People have family emergencies. It is difficult enough to make up the work at Pine Crest when missing that much school. Now, on the tenth time that someone is out sick or absent for a legitimate reason, he or she must not only make up the work, but also make up a whole point deduction on the total grade of the class.[/acc][/accordion]