HIDDEN HILLS, Calif. — In response to the record flu season the nation is experiencing, officials at Round Meadow Elementary School based here, are considering changing the school’s perfect attendance award policy.
Although the school has urged parents to keep students at home if they display any flu-like symptoms, such as fever, vomiting or diarrhea, school officials believe parents are still sending sick children to school, NBC News reports.
Round Meadow Elementary isn’t the only school considering altering its awards program; in fact, many schools throughout the nation have made adjustments, offering awards for “excellent” attendance (roughly 95%), as opposed to “perfect” attendance.
Representatives for Attendance Works, a policy group that works to reduce chronic absence, say that offering awards for perfect attendance discourages students who fall ill during the first month of school. The group believes rewards should be given to students based on good or improved attendance rather than an all-or-nothing approach.
