Atlantic School Board Approves Attendance Policy and Hiring Additional Kindergarten Teacher

(Atlantic) The Atlantic School Board Board approved the Attendance Policy during Wednesday’s meeting.

Superintendent Dr. Beth Johnsen explained that a student will be considered chronically absent if they have missed 10-percent of the school year.

Johnsen said they will provide families with a friendly phone call or contact to let them know when a student’s number of absent days are starting to build up.

Board Member Laura McLean noted that absenteeism can affect the whole class.

Board President Kristy Pellett encourages parents to review the individual school handbooks to familiarize yourself with that policy so it doesn’t feel like you’re being singled out if your student is in that situation. She said it is being addressed and applied equitably for everybody.

Dr. Johnsen said they recently received more information from the Department of Education on the attendance policy and the Atlantic School District will be sharing information about this on their social media.

In other action, the school board approved hiring an additional Kindergarten teacher, if they can find one at this point in the year. Dr. Beth Johnsen said the goal is to reduce the class sizes.

Washington Elementary Principal Stacey Hornung noted that the Kindergarten class just keeps growing, even as the start of the school year approaches.

The School Board also approved the following….

Resignations:

Mallory Kirchoff, ISS Para

Sierra Parker, Preschool Para

Arla Clay, Nutrition Cook

Carmen Ligia Ferreira-Cohrs, Driver