Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Attendance Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lakeland District board narrows attendance rules, approves new elementary and secondary policies
Summary
The Lakeland District School Board voted 3-2 to adopt revised elementary and secondary attendance policies that streamline excused-absence categories, reduce administrative petition work, and add enforcement steps; board and staff said the changes aim to protect instructional time while recognizing certain verified absences.
The Lakeland District School board voted 3-2 to approve revised attendance policies for elementary and secondary schools that change how absences are classified, reduce the paperwork burden on assistant principals and create stronger enforcement steps for excessive absences.
Board members and administrators said the policy was rewritten to make implementation practical for schools and to protect Average Daily Attendance (ADA) funding. Kelsey Badger, federal programs director, summarized how the revision treats school activities and certain verified absences differently: “School activity ones do count because they're tied to a school activity and they are coded with an A,” she said, and added the district will continue to mark medical absences differently.
The board’s nut graf: supporters said the new policy seeks to stop assistant principals from spending workdays on petitions and appeals, while creating clearer rules and letters that carry more consequence when students exceed allowable absences. The revisions introduce a “verified / unverified” approach to help distinguish absences that schools can reasonably excuse without the petition process, and include a short makeup window for missed work (two days in many cases).
In open discussion, district staff and school administrators described the practical problems the rewrite addresses. Shayla Fontaine, assistant principal, said the current system requires students who exceed absence thresholds to complete a petition and that many petitions are approved afterward because the absence had already been explained in advance (for example, surgery or a family funeral). Fontaine said the petition workload consumes staff time and that the policy as written often produces letters that families ignore. “We knew ahead of time that this was happening,” Fontaine said, describing cases where the paperwork did not change the outcome.
Administrators also emphasized accompanying measures to improve attendance that are not policy-based, such as incentives, improved student engagement strategies, and clearer communications with families. Board members asked how the policy would affect ADA and academic outcomes; district staff said they do not expect a marked negative impact on ADA and hope the policy will reduce repeat offenders and improve consistency across schools.
Board action and next steps: Trustee motioned to adopt both the elementary and secondary versions; after debate and clarification questions the board approved the policy 3 in favor, 2 opposed. The board directed staff to monitor implementation and recommended a follow-up check to see how the policy works in practice and whether further tweaks are needed.
Ending note: Administrators said the district will track attendance data and return to the board if the revisions create unintended ADA consequences or implementation problems.
