Dear Parents and Guardians,
I understand that the revised attendance protocols for Bryan County Schools have drawn some concern. So, I thought it might help for you all to have some additional information.
Let me be clear from the start: I fully support the revised expectations that have been put in place. As principal of RHMS, I can firmly attest to the fact that most of what we do is great! However, coming to school and getting to school on time would not be something I would categorize as something we do great. To be honest, the attendance rate at RHMS must improve. 51% of the students at RHMS missed 6 days or more last year. I think that we can all agree that this is an area that we can improve in. The revised protocols should help support efforts to improve student attendance.
The State of Georgia College and Career Ready Performance Index is a tool used by the Georgia Department of Education to communicate how well schools are performing. CCRPI takes many data points into account, one of which is the school’s attendance rate. As a school, and as a district, we have identified school attendance as an area for improvement.
In addition to CCRPI, there are state attendance guidelines and laws that are in place to support daily attendance at school. You can read and review a significant amount of information about this on the Georgia Department of Education website. I am including a link to that page below for your convenience.
Based on the response following the release of the updated attendance guidelines, there are many of you who would be willing to be actively involved in helping RHMS make sure we have the most effective practices in place to support exemplary daily attendance at school and exceptional on-time arrival. I invite you to contact me directly if you have any concerns or are interested in joining a task force to discuss student attendance and create a plan to positively improve our current status.
Thank you for your involvement and support. I look forward to working with you to improve our student attendance and to make sure our school-based practices are effective and well communicated.
William J. McGrath, Ed.D.
Principal, RHMS
Link to GADOE: http://www.gadoe.org/External-Affairs-and-Policy/Policy/Pages/Student-Attendance-Guidance.aspx