Does HPISD Need an Automated System for Reporting Absences to Parents

Since this sad story punched the country in the gut on June 4, I’ve been reading about school districts with automated phone systems designed to alert parents that their child has been marked absent. In this case, the family of a missing Oregon boy lost almost 7 crucial hours.

Should HPISD be equipped to report no-show students?

By Merritt Patterson Jun. 17, 2010 | 10:10 am | 10 Comments | Comments RSS
10 comments to "Does HPISD Need an Automated System for Reporting Absences to Parents"
  1. lawyer mom @ June 17, 2010 at 1:30 pm
    Absolutely they should. So many kids walk or ride their bikes to school and their parents have no way of knowing for certain that their child made it to school. This year, I walked my child 3/4 of the way to school but then he wanted the independence of going the rest of the way by himself — great in theory but it nagged at me that I didn’t actually see him walk into the school. My child goes to Hyer and I inquired in the office as to whether the school calls if a child is not at school and the person at the front desk said it was “hit or miss” (some story about how it used to be her job but now it is someone else’s job and there has been a transition etc. — pretty sketchy). My plan for next year is to talk to my teacher and have her email me if my son doesn’t show up for school unless I’ve already emailed her saying he would be absent. Even that is leaving a lot up to chance (what if she forgets or there is a substitute). I think HP could quickly and easily raise private funds to pay for an automated system — a lot of people share this concern and would love the peace of mind.

  2. PCMom @ June 17, 2010 at 3:55 pm
    YES – absolutely.

  3. bc (the fake parent edition) @ June 17, 2010 at 5:08 pm
    Merritt, I’m so concerned that the school district isn’t equipped for this and I’m even more concerned by the same loopholes lawyer mom mentioned above (substitutes, forgetful teachers, etc) and by the extra capitalizing PCMom used (YES INDEED), that I’m either going to home-school or take my student to get a concealed hand gun license.

    Where’s Ed Rooney when you need a principal who’s on the ball about informing parents about questionable absences? Oh yeah, he’s at the back of the bus eating warm gummy bears…

  4. kmom @ June 17, 2010 at 6:02 pm
    It would have been nice when my kids were small, most schools these days have these systems. I remember that the middle and Jr. high used to send out recorded messages ALL THE TIME about all kinds of things – i remember Bohac’s voice on my answering machine often. Seems like an easy leap to this. At the high school they have beleagered secreatary’s calling all the parents of the kids that are absent, very inefficient.

  5. mainzer @ June 18, 2010 at 2:08 am
    All of the HP schools called home if a child was not in school during the 60′s and 70′s. It made it more challenging to skip school, but more seriously, there was a kidnapping in the early 70′s near the middle school.

  6. JK @ June 18, 2010 at 9:44 am
    Was the kidnapping the Dealey girl?

  7. eeewww @ June 18, 2010 at 10:54 pm
    my kinder child missed many days of school this year due to illness, and I could rest assured that when my phone rang at 11:02 am the days he was home sick, it was an automated call from RISD to let me know my child was absent. I had no idea this wasn’t common and the norm everywhere? it also asked me to call the school if my child was experiencing flu-like symptoms so they could keep track of those illnesses (H1N1).

  8. G2 @ June 20, 2010 at 8:20 pm
    If you have kids at Bradfield, you will get a call from Amy or Jeanie in the office by 9am if your child is not at school! They also want you to call back if it is strep, flu, etc. It’s almost like they keep a record of what sicknesses are going around the school! Talk about “Above and Beyond the call of duty.” I didnt even appreciate this until I had kids at Hyer and was never called when my kids were absent.

  9. Meredith Roever @ June 21, 2010 at 6:57 am
    We LOVE Amy and Jeannie!!!!

  10. KL @ June 28, 2010 at 8:49 am
    When I was at HPHS from 1996-2000, they did have a system like this. It would call your house within 30 minutes of you missing a class. If I was skipping, I would always race home after school to delete the automatic-message before my parents could hear it when they got home from work.

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