McDowell County public school officials say they are getting tough on absenteeism.
At last week's School Board meeting, Associate Superintendent Mike Murray said the schools now all have a unified truancy policy.
Murray spoke of steps taken and policies implemented to reduce absenteeism. The truancy court, launched last year and presided over by District Court Judge Randy Pool, was suspended for the fall semester, he said, due to the expectation of high absenteeism due to the much-publicized swine flu outbreak.
"As soon as that subsides," he said, "we will start that up again."
Meanwhile, truancy officers and social workers were more vigilant than ever in making sure the kids were in school.
All schools, he said, now had the same schedule of phone calls and letters to parents reminding them of the law and advising them of their children's absences. Judge Pool, he said, would have no problem calling parents to appear and explain themselves. That applied to teachers as well, he added. Teachers must keep and submit accurate records of absences, both excused and unexcused.
"It's very important that if we are going to cause anyone to be brought before Judge Pool," said Murray in a later interview, "that we be sure the information is accurate." It's not, he added, that he believed any teachers were covering up for absences, but a few had failed to update records to reflect excused absences. Keeping accurate records is a primary responsibility of every classroom teacher.
In the matter of buildings and grounds, he reported on a number of projects. Prominent among those was the matter of the roof at West Marion Elementary, as reported in The McDowell News on Thanksgiving Day.
The new gym floor at Nebo Elementary is now in use, Murray stated. That floor was completely replaced in the past few months, due to inadequate substrate and the resultant penetration of moisture causing the old floor to buckle.
The new floor has a concrete substrate and should be much less vulnerable to moisture.
A great number of maintenance department hours have gone into rectifying the radon issues at Old Fort Elementary, Murray stated. Radon is a naturally occurring, colorless, odorless radioactive gas. It has been found in the school at levels the federal EPA considers to be unacceptable.
In the past few weeks, workers have taken a two-pronged approach to the matter: sealing the cracks and gaps between the floor and walls, and modifying the HVAC system to allow a greater volume of fresh air in the affected areas.
When that work is done, he explained, new tests will be conducted to determine of more efforts are warranted.
The tests will be conducted at no cost by a regional radon specialist who offered their services, Murray stated. The company, he added, does not offer any services the school may need to address the issue, meaning they have no financial stake in the matter. The tests are expected in mid-December and the results will be published in The McDowell News.
There is also concern about radon levels at Nebo and Glenwood. These will be addressed as soon as the Old Fort situation is under control, said Murray.
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