By Stephen Smoot
Students have gotten settled in to start the 2024-25 school year. The Harrison County Board of Education last week shared some changes required by the West Virginia State Legislature that address attendance and absence policy.
First, the Board heard that the State changed the definition of what constitutes a full and a half day while also adding other categories. Formerly, 74 percent or more of a day attended by a student constituted a full day of school. Now, a student must attend 80 percent of the day to receive full credit for attendance. A new category, three quarters of a day, applies to 60 to 79 percent. A half day constitutes 40 to 59 percent and a quarter of a day is credited when the student attends for 20 to 39 percent of the school day.
Each school has a slightly different schedule, so the number of minutes in each category will vary slightly from school to school.
Another change came from Jaycie’s Law. This law came from the 2024 session’s House Bill 5179 that “requires the West Virginia Department of Education to establish a policy to support the educational and parenting goals of pregnant and parenting students.” This covers days missed for labor, delivery, and prenatal/postnatal medical appointments.”
Mothers get eight weeks of homebound or virtual education related to giving birth. A major change this year allows for fathers to get two weeks off.
Another change from a separate bill eliminated leaves of educational value as exceptions to mandatory school attendance laws. A Board member noted that “they were typically used for family vacations and college visits.”
Another requirement established by the State school system involved the concept of three tiers of interventions in cases of disciplinary or related problems. These run from tier one, which is least restrictive, to tier three which is the most. The three tiers form a continuum that integrates social, emotional, academic, and behavioral instruction with evidence-based intervention supports.
The tier system helps to determine how to work with behavior disruptions and other problems that students might bring to the classroom, as well as appropriate levels of response and action. The West Virginia Department of Education considers this to be “a whole-child focus for all learners.”
Another change came in the response mandates for number of absences incurred by students. Some social media reports falsely stated that households would receive a contact after the first absence. The Board learned that mandated contacts would come after three, five, and 10 days missed.
“Home visits haven’t been real successful,” the Board heard, due to the transient nature of some student households. Contact may come through phone, in-person visits, text, or even social media messaging.
Dora Stutler, Harrison County Schools Superintendent, shared that another new feature this year would come in the form of a staff newsletter, planned to be distributed monthly. Subtle urged each department to send in information helpful to the entire system.
She especially wanted to use the newsletter to spread positive news, saying “anyone can send us a letter . . . to recognize more people, more often,” for good work and achievements.
“We’ve got a whole lot of people who do great things,” Stutler said.