November Adviser

What you do if your district had a problem with teacher absenteeism?

The superintendent of a mid-sized district brought to her board's attention that several teachers had high absentee rates. She worried that these prolonged and frequent absences were costing the district a lot of money. She wanted the board to renegotiate with the teachers union so that all of the teachers got fewer sick/personal days. The board was concerned about penalizing all the teachers for the abuses of just a few. However, members were also concerned about the rising costs of substitutes and the growing evidence that excessive teacher absences hurt student achievement. What should they do?

	Avoid strict attendance policies, especially during flu season.
	Make attendance policies stringent for all teachers.
	Deal with attendance problems individually.

Advice for the asking: Would you like to comment in more detail about this topic or are you plagued with your own prickly problem of school board service or school governance? Send a message to ASBJ’s cadre of consultants, known collectively as the Adviser. We’ll change the names of persons and places. Then, we’ll describe the problem and its suggested solution for our readers.

The Adviser does not represent official policy of the National School Boards Association; nor should it be construed as legal advice.