DEL NORTE COUNTY, Calif. (KIEM)-This week the Del Norte Unified School District, published on social media and through phone calls, notified parents about attendance letters that will be sent to families beginning next week.
The school district says the message was not meant to threaten or intimidate but in fact was sent out to express their support for families during these difficult times.
According to the school district, they are required by law to maintain attendance records and to notify families if any issues should arise and stress their focus is on support and assistance to their students, not to initiate enforcement through the courts.
Director of Grants and Community Engagement Michael Hawkins says this year has been a challenge for everyone.
“The purpose of these letters are for supporting our families to kind of make it a conversation starter, to reach out and encourage our parents to reach out to us, let us know what you are going through,” he said. “This form of education this distance learning the challenges are actually nearly, borderline impossible.”
DNUSD’s statement about the attendance letters and important links can be found below:
“….the District published a Facebook post and made a call home notifying parents about attendance letters that will be sent to families beginning next week. We sincerely apologize for any anxiety or stress that the post or phone call caused. It was never the intent of the post to threaten or intimidate. Our goal was exactly the opposite. Despite the fact that we are required by the State, through compulsory attendance laws and SB 98, to maintain attendance records and to notify families of attendance issues, we want to let families know we are here to focus on supports and assistance for students and not enforcement through the courts.
“We have heard clearly from families about issues surrounding Zoom and the impacts that distance learning and limited in-person attendance are having on families and students. We understand the hardships faced by families in balancing work, childcare, and the added burdens of children being educated at home, along with other concerns. Because we are aware of these issues, the only attendance letters that will be sent are for absences that are unexcused. No letters will be sent based on excused absences, illness, technical issues, quarantine, or other health, safety, or hardship reasons. For all of these reasons, and more, we want to support each student and family. We truly ask you to reach out to staff if there is anything we can do to help.
“We also have the same desire as all of our families- to return to school full time, five days per week, in-person with every student.
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“It has been stated that teachers, Board members, or District leadership are the reason that schools have not returned to in-person instruction. This is simply not true. Local bargaining units and the District created agreements in the fall to return when most other districts throughout the state were not even willing to discuss reopening. Moreover, the Board of Trustees has pushed for reopening as soon as possible to the fullest extent possible as long as we were following the law and meeting the safety requirements mandated by the State.
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“The State of California, however, has created a set of criteria that the District must use to keep students coming to school in person. These guidelines, developed by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and Cal/OSHA, include the requirement that students be seated a minimum of four feet apart. Our classrooms are simply not large enough to meet this requirement with every student in the room in most cases. Should the requirements from the State change to allow more flexibility, we will immediately work together with labor partners, the Board of Trustees, and administration to bring students back to the fullest extent possible. (We encourage you to read all of the school opening requirements on the CDPH website here: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/…/Consolidated_Schools_Guidance….
“Some comments claimed that these letters are only about funding. We want to assure you the letters are not about funding. This year and next, our funding is not tied to attendance. In a typical year, school funding is tied to a variety of factors, including daily attendance. This is not a typical year. Our focus has and will always be for students to be able to participate as fully as possible in school and school-related activities for equipping students for success, whether that is in person or distance learning.
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“Again, we sincerely apologize for any undue stress and anxiety that may have been caused by our previous post. We are here to support our families in their student’s education. Please reach out to your child’s school for help or visit our special page for families at www.dnusd.org/families for more information. We are also creating an attendance Q&A to address the concerns of families. If you have a question that you would like answered, please email communications@dnusd.org.”
