Franklin Regional adds some flexibility to attendance policy for covid-cautious absences

Franklin Regional officials have updated the district’s attendance procedures to give students more academic flexibility, if parents choose to keep them home over potential covid-19 symptoms.

The district has come in for criticism from some parents since the start of school, for encouraging students to stay home if they think they may have covid symptoms, and then marking them absent when they try to keep up with their classwork online.

“We wanted to be very clear that we don’t want to punish parents for doing the right thing,” Assistant Superintendent Robin Pynos said. “When we’re asking them to keep students home out of precaution because they have a particular symptom, we definitely want to be able to provide that (attendance) credit. What that looks like at each level, and each building, is a little different.”

• Elementary: Hybrid-model students who are kept home due to symptoms on FR’s covid screening checklist may participate online for all daily classes to earn attendance credit. In-person students at Heritage and Sloan who are kept home are expected to work “asynchronously,” without live teacher instruction, to earn attendance credit; Newlonsburg students will log in at 9 a.m. and follow both live and asynchronous instruction to earn attendance credit.

• Middle school: Hybrid students kept home can participate online following live and asynchronous instruction to earn attendance credit; in-person students will participate asynchronously. District officials said in-person classrooms at Heritage, Sloan and the middle school are working towards adding a live component for online instruction.

• High school: Hybrid students kept home can participate online following live instruction and must complete assignments for all daily classes to earn attendance credit.

The procedure for fully online students remains unchanged.

School board director Mark Kozlosky said he appreciated the administration’s ability to respond and adapt to parents’ concerns.

“I think it’s really helpful,” he said. “As a parent of elementary kids, we’ve kept them home over even the slightest symptom, and I’m fortunate that we’re able to do that. But I know we can’t have kids switch all the time seamlessly.”

Board member Ed Mittereder thanked parents for their efforts.

“We’ve been asking them to the do the right thing, and this is a difficult time,” Mittereder said. “We don’t want to have to shut down the schools because a few people got careless and sent their students in. We’re all in this together and we need your help.”

Franklin Regional Middle School officials notified parents Oct. 8 that a student had tested positive for covid-19. State health officials said no additional students would need to quarantine, based on their contact tracing efforts.

Superintendent Gennaro Piraino said being responsive to students’ needs gives them the best chance to succeed, and also to get back to being kids.

“When I saw our football players, and our band and cheerleaders on Friday night, playing the alma mater, for the first time in a long time I saw kids being kids and doing what they’re supposed to be doing, in a responsible way,” Piraino said at the school board’s Oct. 5 meeting.

Flexible attendance updates are posted at FRSDk12.org.