Schools worry over late pupils

Published 12:00 am Sunday, October 1, 2000

For Natchez-Adams school officials, the numbers are &uot;almost overwhelming.&uot; Hundreds of students in the district had 20 or more unexcused absences and tardies last year school year — a tally that school officials say indicates a threat to a student’s ability to learn and a dangerous lack of commitment from parents.

&uot;It’s almost overwhelming,&uot; said Linda Grafton, district technology director, who keeps attendance data. &uot;We have students at Morgantown and McLaurin that had as many as 59 days they came in tardy.&uot;

Those tardies likely meant those students missed reading classes those days, Grafton said — a critical key to the learning process.

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District officials and community representatives including the School Attendance Office, the Natchez police chief and the Adams County Youth Court judge discussed the ongoing tardy problem during their monthly meeting on Friday.

&uot;We have to make a big to-do about this in the schools,&uot; said Dr. Carl Davis, superintendent. &uot;We have to educate our people.&uot;

He said educating parents about the need to bring students to school on time is critical.

&uot;(They) believe they can get up at 9 o’clock. and drive (their children) it at 10 o’clock, and it will still be OK,&uot; Davis said.

But it won’t, district officials say. That is why they want to address the problem now.

&uot;There is no reason for 130 students at Frazier (to have tardies), even if they are kindergarten,&uot; Grafton said. &uot;This is where the pattern is set.&uot;

And at Natchez High School — where an average of 35 students already attend Saturday school each week because of excessive tardies — the district is adding another tool.

Beginning Monday, students will be required to attend Saturday School each time they they accrue four tardies during a nine-week grading period.

Previously, students had to attend Saturday School only if they had four tardies in a one-week period. And students, according to Davis, knew how to take advantage of the system that would allow up to three tardies in one week without disciplinary consequences.

&uot;There’s no reason (they) can’t get from point A to point B in five minutes&uot; — the time allocated to switch classes, Davis said.

Meeting participants also decided to try and track data to determine if excessive tardies and excessive absences are found in the same families.