The Greenwood School Board is considering modifying its policy regarding penalties for student absences.
The proposal was discussed at the board’s meeting Monday and is to be taken up again at its next work session April 3.
Under current district policy, a student who incurs 20 absences is given a failing grade. Superintendent Montrell Greene said he would like to have more flexibility in handling these cases.
“We have some students that we saw are going to fall into that category — in the high school, especially,” he said.
Greene said he wants to avoid a type of "double jeopardy" in which a student could be suspended for disciplinary reasons and then fail because of those absences. He said that if a student performs well enough to pass the required tests and be promoted, he or she should be allowed to do so.
This would be in line with an attorney general’s opinion on the subject, he said.
At the same time, "if a student is not ready to go to another grade, I'm not saying by any means or advocating that we need to give the child a pass," he said.
Greene said the figure of 20 days was settled on locally, and since that is the policy in place, he is required to follow it.
However, a sample policy from the Mississippi School Boards Association that board members examined Monday doesn’t mention a certain number of absences that would lead to mandatory failure. There also is no reference to 20 days in state law, he said.
Greene said that if the policy change were approved, it could affect this year's graduation, although he didn't know how many seniors might be affected.
Also Monday:
nGreene discussed a partnership between the district and Suddenlink in which on-air programs will be shown on public-access television to share information with the public. For example, special events will be broadcast, such as the "Taking It to the Streets" gatherings, and there will be on-air interview programs about topics such as test preparation. "We try to be creative in whatever way we can to share information that will be helpful and showcase our students," Greene said.
nThe board approved moving next month’s work session from April 10 to April 3 and next month’s board meeting from April 15 to April 8.
nThe board approved holding classes on May 22 and May 23 to make up for the two class days lost in February because of bad weather. An additional makeup day has been set for May 30 in case it is needed.
• Contact David Monroe at 581-7236 or dmonroe@gwcommonwealth.com.
