It’s a concept as old as school itself. Students skipping class or not wanting to go to school altogether. There have been entire occupations, rock songs and countless conversations dedicated to the subject. For Lincoln County School District #2, the battle to have kids in school isn’t just a casual joke anymore, it’s a real struggle. One that seems to have been compounded in a post-COVID 19 era. Mr. Josh Frazier and Mrs. Wendy McGinley addressed the board of trustees at their most recent meeting with ideas of how to tweak current guidelines and protocols to help educators get back to filling their classrooms.

“It’s been a battle since Covid nationwide and districtwide,” Frazier said. “Things have continued to slowly get worse. Mr. [Farren] Haderlie has mentioned the magic is in our teachers. We ask our teachers to do things and they do it well. Sometimes students get on Canvas and see some of their assignments. Then we have kids not showing up to school with excessive absences.”

In short, its hard to let teachers do what they do best if the student isn’t in class as often as they should be.

“We value relationships and if the kids aren’t there we may not know what is going on,” McGinley added. “If we can look them in their eyes every day we know them a whole lot better.”

The work to make some adjustments came from the teachers themselves.

“With this policy they can miss 10 class periods per class per trimester,” Frazier explained. “There are various plans to gain credit and hopefully learn material and progress while having flexibility. The current policy is difficult to enforce.”

The LCSD#2 Board is expected to address and discuss this topic in future meetings and work sessions.