Just because Montgomery County Public Schools is starting online-only this fall in Maryland, that doesn’t mean students are off the hook for attendance.
When students log on for class, they will be counted as present. But if they miss a class, parents can fill out a simple Google form verifying their student watched the class later, said Sean McGee, the director of learning, achievement and administration.
Students have 72 hours to watch missed lessons.
McGee said, “The form will take a few minutes to complete, and once it’s submitted, it gets automatically sent back to the school.” He added that each school will reconcile attendance.
If a student frequently misses class, or seems to not be engaging, such as always showing a black screen, schools will follow up with parents, McGee said — “making a phone call and saying, ‘Did you know that your son or your daughter, we haven’t seen them on the screen, or they’re turning on the screen but they’re really not engaging on that lesson.’”
If a student is ill and won’t be able to watch classes for an extended period of time, McGee said, there will be some flexibility — the school might even provide different material for those students to be able to catch up.
