It’s a common feeling to wake up in the morning and dread going to school. Maybe it’s because you have a big test that day. Maybe you woke up with the sniffles. Or maybe you just don’t feel like going that day. Whatever it is, absent or not, the attendance policy at Lake Forest High School has been addressed and reformed to make sure there are stricter consequences for students with too many absences.

Dean of Students Mrs. Laura Clegg says absences spiked during Covid but remained high last year.

“In 2020, the state of Illinois said we could only have nine absences per semester and students shall not exceed nine absences in a class. Once Covid came, we were actually requesting for students with mild symptoms to stay home in order to keep the community safe. Ever since Covid, we have transitioned back to the Illinois state requirement of the nine absence policy and absences have been much less of an issue,” said Clegg. 

There is a difference between an excused absence and unexcused absence. The nine parental excused absences are usually appointments or vacations. They do not include field trips, medical absences, or counselor/social worker visits. An unexcused absence is skipping class without being called out by a parent.

 “Last year Mr. Lesniak and I would print out and search through big packets of paperwork to individually look at each student reported absent and look through all the periods. This year, Dr. Abrams and Mr. Lesniak worked over the summer to create an absent log system for parents and created automatic emails that go out to students after five, seven, and nine absences in a class period,” said Clegg. 

Nine absences in one class is equivalent to missing roughly two weeks of school. 

“I suffered a big knee injury in the beginning of the school year and was missing a lot of school for doctors appointments, surgeries, and intense recovery. Thankfully, I’ve been able to get work done from home and get good grades,” junior Kylie Dugan said.

According to The Department of Education, students who are chronically absent–meaning they miss at least 15 days of school in a year–are at serious risk of falling behind in school. 

Junior Cecilia Lemon says, “I’ve missed plenty of classes, but I still do my best to stay on top of my work and make up what I miss from that class period,” said Lemon. 

Deans Mrs. Laura Clegg and Mr. Jonathan Silvers report that the initiatives are absolutely working and they’ve seen a major decrease in absences this year. 

“Although the new system kind of started last year, it wasn’t fully nailed down yet and not everyone was used to it which made it a lot harder to get it up and running and have the effect we needed it to have. Fortunately, we’ve learned a lot and made improvements on the way we notify the parents on where their students stand,” said Clegg.

Before Covid, there would be students missing 35 days of class compared to now where students on average miss just a handful days of class. 

The Department of Education also states,“in high school, about 1 in 5 students are chronically absent.” Meanwhile, at Lake Forest High School, 4-5 students are absent from each class a day.

With the second semester and brutal winter conditions approaching, absences tend to be more common.

Administrators strongly believe it will be under control this year.

“The five, seven, and nine absences rule limits students from excessively missing school because we do follow through with students, especially second semester seniors. While second semester seniors have the reputation of class absences, I’m sure this year they will be less frequent because they are being held to the same rules and standards everyone else is being held to,” said Clegg. 

“As us administrators love to say, attendance matters,” said Clegg.