This school year, the district has tied absences back to exemptions. In order to be able to exempt finals, students can only have four unexcused absences per semester. Excused absences are rare, especially where illnesses are concerned. Students have to return to school with a doctor’s note on the day the student receives the note for an absence to be excused. If a doctor suggests a student stay home multiple days, the days count against the student as unexcused.
This rule needs to change in regards to final exemptions. A doctor’s note should cover all sick days because there should not be a punishment to students who get sick and do the responsible thing by staying home.
The main issue with this policy arises with illnesses like strep or COVID, where doctors recommend a minimum of a 24-hour quarantine while they wait for the medicine to kick in and make the illness less contagious. Right now, these “mandatory” quarantines count against exceptions. Because of the new exemption policy this year, kids are coming to school sick and germs are spreading like wildfire.
There are more than 2,000 students and staff members in this building. When kids come to school sick, they are spreading it to everyone with whom they come in contact. In addition, they are unable to focus in class because they don’t feel well. Yes, kids are in the building, but they aren’t actually learning in class and are actively doing worse on assignments and tests than if they’d take the time off to get healthy and take a makeup test when they returned.
There is no denying that Humble ISD has a chronic absenteeism problem, with around 22 percent of students missing 18 or more days of school in the 2022-2023 school year. Last year, there were students who abused the ability to miss 10 days each semester, which is the state mandated law for the required amount of time kids need to be in school.
Truancy is a problem that should have consequences. But staying home when sick and contagious is responsible. Students who listen to their doctors and stay home should not be considered truant.
A doctor’s note should be able to count for all days a student needs to miss due to illness. The 10-day state law must still apply, however, sick days should not be tied to exemptions. There are people who get sick easily and people who are at high risk with low immune systems. Allowing doctor’s notes to cover all required sick days would help keep students safe and healthy while still cutting back on the number of days people are missing.
