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Show fKrTLE Creek vS A recent news release from Superintendent Alma P. Burton is to the effect that Alpine School District has lost $3,420 since Dec. 1955, due to pupil absenteeism. Part of the State money the District Dist-rict receives to operate the schools is based upon the total day to day attendance. It amounts to about a dollar a day per child. "Students are expected to be in school every school day unles they are ill," said Superintendent Burton; Bur-ton; and that's good advice. Of course no reasonable educator would want children in school if they were sick; but there are doubtedless many cases where pupil pu-pil adsenteeism is due to trivial or avoidable causes. In this connection, I recall some of the reasons given by high school students for missing school when they were physically able to attend. at-tend. Perhaps the most common was, "I missed the bus". How well I remember .before the days of "free transportation", when we hiked from two to three miles twice each day and thought nothing noth-ing of itAre we getting soft, or just mentally and physically lazy? One morning I called a mother on the telephone to ask why her 16- year old son was not in school. She yelled to him in the back yard, "Say Bob, what did you say you were staying out of school for today"? to-day"? That's educational interest for you. Perhaps the most humorous comeback was made years ago by a Junior High School boy, when I was Principal of Lincoln High School. In response to my question. "Charley, why did you miss school yesterday?" he said, "I had to watch the place. If nobody's home, the neighbors steal us blind". There certainly was delinquency even in those days, and it all was- not on the part of the kids. Absenteeism is costly any way you look at it. Even teachers miss a day of school now and then, due to illness or sometimes less urgent reasons. True, substitute teachers of sorts may be secured; but in general little of real educational value goes on until the regular teacher returns. Some time ago, the entire instructional in-structional force of Alpine District knocked off for half a day to hold a teachers conference. No doubht the meeting was important and was approved by Superintendent. Teachers organizations are a fine thing; but was it really necessary to turn 10,500 boys and girls loose for a half-day in order for the educators edu-cators to discuss matters of professional pro-fessional interest? An after school or an evening session could have accomplished just as much and no one would have been the loser. No one can estimate just what a three-hourr shut-down, means to the children in lost educational opportunity; op-portunity; but the dollar cost may easily be figured out. The total instructional budget for Alpine District for this year is $1,450,000, according to Elijah Chipman, Clerk of the Board of Education; and there are 180 days of actual school. $1,450,00 divided by 180 is $8,050; what it costs in salaries for a day of school. Diving $8,050 by two, we get $4,025; the cost of instruction in-struction for a half-day. All of the instances related above might indicate that educators, educat-ors, parents and children are human just like the rest of us, and sometimes do things without estimating esti-mating the over all impact. One child or one teacher absent for a day doesn't amount to very much; but the aggregate cost or loss is often surprising. So long 'til Thursday. I |