Students are coming to school while sick: What admin could do to stop it
Getting sick is a normal part of life. Everyone no matter who they are gets ill at one point or another in their lifetime and students at Northern High School are no exception to this well known fact. Some may often be sick more than the average person due to the extra exposure to germs and other sick students. This exposure to ill students could be solved quite easily if people would just stop coming to school while sick..
Walking down the halls at Northern, it is more than likely one will encounter a student coughing, sneezing, and just seeming overall unwell. More and more students are attending school while sick for the same reason: Exams.
Northern exam exemption policy states that students with an “A” average in a given class along with three or less absences or a “B” average and two or less absences do not have to take the teacher made exam to that class. This policy was created to reward positive behavior such as attending class and turning in all assignments.
Many students are able to easily obtain and “A” or “B” average in their classes, it is keeping their number of absences to a minimum that can become a challenge considering that both excused and unexcused absences count against students for this policy. A few exceptions to this include field trips, college visits, and religious observances; But not doctor signed sick notes.
Due to the fact that even getting a signed form from one’s doctor cannot save a student from addition to their number of absences that count against them in the exam policy, many students choose to come to school while sick.
Various ailments that affect Northern students cannot be fixed with a prescription drug and rest however, some require a much more invasive approach.
Northern students are not immune from acquiring common colds, nor are they from obtaining much more serious illness that require hospital stays or even surgery. Even these serious afflictions which preclude them from being able to attend school due to their own health and safety of others are counted against them when it comes time to see who must take exams at the end of a semester.
Students with signed doctor’s notes that detail why and when the student was out of school should have their absences exempt from consideration of the exam exemption policy, especially if the absence was due to a hospital stay.
If administration’s sole job is truly to protect the safety of Northern students, then their first priority should be to ensure that students do not feel pressured to attend school when they should be resting and getting better, because technically students are not truly safe when they are being infected by someone who is sick.