Updated Absentee Policy In Needham Public Schools

May 23, 2024
• Needham School Committee membered discussed changing the current absentee policy and some members thought the update could negatively affect certain populations within the schools.

Ideally, all students would have perfect attendance in the Needham Public Schools. In a post-COVID reality, however, sometimes even the best of students would be encouraged not to come in. Add in other reasons from college visits to truancy, and the Needham Public Schools is wrestling with coming up with a fair and enforceable policy, particularly at the high school level. Some of those issues came to light as the School Committee sought to adopt the latest round of handbooks for the Needham Public Schools. What they settled on is a policy that will, no doubt, come up for discussion again. Municipal Producer Yuxiao Yuan takes a look at the new rules.

This story ran as part of the Needham Channel News, a weekly newscast airing on The Needham Channel every Thursday at 7:30pm. The Needham Channel News can be found on the Community Channel: Comcast 9, Astound 15 and Verizon 29. Most Thursdays it also can be viewed on our HD Channel on Verizon 2129, Astound 613 and streaming on this site.