By John Brice
Correspondent
Attendance policies recently adopted by the Chambers County School District under its new “Early Warning Truancy Program” have prompted parents and residents in the community to express their concerns over potential issues that may arise for students and their families.
In a post to the official Facebook page for Valley High School, details were stated as “There are some changes to the attendance policy for the 2024-25 school year. Students can have up to 4 parent notes per semester. Starting on the 5th day of absence…a parent note cannot be used. All excuse notes have to be turned into the office within 3 days.”
It went on to continue “The following reasons are recognized as legitimate excuses for Parent Notes: Illness, Death in the immediate family, Inclement weather which would be dangerous to the life and health of the student as determined by the principal or superintendent, Legal quarantine, Emergency, Prior permission of the principal with the consent of the parent or legal guardian”.
Clarifying the steps taken by the CCSD once its policies are violated, it stated “Step 1 – The school Principal or designee will notify the parent or guardian by email or letter that the accumulation of two unexcused absence days in a semester has called for their attendance at an Early Warning Meeting held at the school hosted by the Principal or their designee, where a plan is developed to correct the behavior.
Step 2- Three days after the third unexcused absence day in a semester, the local school designee or principal will notify the District Truancy Deputy to contact a central office director. The student’s parent or guardian will be contacted by letter by either the Director of Elementary Education or the School Improvement Specialist from the district level. The District Truancy Deputy will conduct a home visit to explain previous actions and next steps, which include filing a complaint or petition against the student (10 years or older) with Chambers County Juvenile Services if the issue is not corrected.”
Outlining the measures taken for escalated cases of truancy, the post continued “Step 3- Three days after the fourth unexcused absence day in a semester, the local school designee or principal will notify the District Truancy Deputy to contact the Assistant Superintendent. The student’s parent or guardian will be contacted by letter, phone, or email from the district level notifying them of a meeting with the Assistant Superintendent to explain previous steps and next steps, which include filing a complaint or petition against the student (10 years or older) with Chambers County Juvenile Services. The parent or guardian will be notified that another unexcused absence that is not followed with an excuse within three school days will result in a warrant being filed against them for truancy at the Chambers County Courthouse. Additionally, a doctor’s note must be provided for every absence after the fourth one for each semester.
Step 4 – Three days after the fifth unexcused absence day in a semester, the school truancy officer will contact the Superintendent. The student’s parent or guardian will have a warrant filed against them for truancy by the Superintendent at the Chambers County Courthouse.”
Reaction from local residents on social media has been passionate, with one Facebook user commenting “Chambers County please !!!!! ATP is this prison??? Bc dang yall have the most rules ! So worried bout absence , what they can and can’t wear , where they can and can’t park , but how about looking into some of the teachers regardless of a degree. Really valley making high school seems so boring to these kids . Like they can’t even really experience it like we did treating them like they in elementary is insane to me . Worried bout why they out or how many times they out why does it matter to yall!!! Long as they come to school and do they work and understand the lesson is what matter! hell yall ain’t teaching them nun anyway everything on the computer ! Give them a hard back thick book like we had let them flip some pages tf worrying bout a parent note .bc if I keep mines out a parent note it will be. But do you not now folks can get a dr excuse made right from they phone or computer so what the difference”.
Another commenter on Facebook expressed the thoughts of many when they noted “Valley High School has definitely lost their minds. The school is pure nasty. These kids are going to get sick. Bradley stayed sick last year almost every other month. Yea he will be homeschooled next semester cause I’m gonna stay getting calls and going to court behind mine”.
Valley High is too strict. The dress code for High School is ridicilous. I get a message everyday about my son being tardy. When I called about it the attendance lady say he is late for health. “Maybe he is having a hard time getting from Biology to Health.” Come to find out Biology is up the stairs in another building at the far end from the Health class. She already knows theres a problem yet the still mark kids tardy. As for doctors notes, everything doesnt need a doctors note bit you still wouldnt want a child in school with say, diarreah, a fever ect. They have the craziest rules. Maybe its time for parents to come together and attend a school board meeting to voice our concerns.