By Joel Counce jcounce@dailycorinthian.com
Mississippi Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hoseman is honoring three Alcorn County schools for attendance.
Alcorn Central Elementary School, Alcorn Central Middle School and Kossuth Middle School were listed among the lowest in chronic absenteeism.
The Booneville and Prentiss County school districts were also listed among the state’s lowest.
Overall, the Alcorn School District had an 18.3 percent chronic absenteeism, lower than the state average of 24.2.
“While the rate is lower than some other states, it is still more than 10 percentage points above the state’s 13 percent rate during the 2018-2019 school year,” stated Brittney Davis, senior policy advisor.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as two or more absences in one month.
“Students are going to get sick, staff is going to be sick,” Alcorn School District Superintendent Brandon Quinn said. “Those things happen. But if a student doesn’t come because they don’t want to or because a parent doesn’t want them to, those are the kinds of things we are trying to avoid.”
Hoseman said chronic absenteeism is trending in the right direction.
“The goal should be for every school in Mississippi to reach its pre-pandemic rate, and then keep trending downward,” he said. “When children are in the classroom, they are safe and they are learning,” Hosemann said. “This award is meant to celebrate schools concentrating on bringing their attendance rates up and encourage others to set the same goal.”
Quinn said the goal for ASD is to create a positive working environment atmosphere on its campuses.
“We try to make school an environment that kids want to be a part of,” he said. “We try to create an environment that’s safe for our students, that’s welcoming to our students on a daily basis.”
Thank you Daily Corinthian