This message is meant to clarify ongoing confusion regarding attendance policies in Monomoy during the COVID-19 situation in Massachusetts. Many families may have seen that the Department of Education and Governor's office stated that “For accountability purposes for school year 2019-20, DESE will calculate chronic absenteeism as of Monday, March 2, 2020 and disregard all attendance data for the remainder of the school year.” 

This statement refers directly to one of the measures used to evaluate each school district across the state annually and assign an accountability rating. This does not mean that schools are no longer required to monitor student attendance, it just means that school districts do not need to worry about the impact of student attendance on their accountability rating for absences that occur after March 2, 2020. This allows districts to relax attendance policies; however, does not relieve us from our responsibility to monitor attendance.

As such, Monomoy Regional School District will continue to monitor student attendance each day our schools are in session. If families decide to keep their children home from school in response to concerns over COVID-19, these absences will be recorded by the district; however, families will not be penalized in any way for absences from March 2, 2020 until this situation with COVID-19 is resolved in the state. This does not absolve attendance concerns prior to March 2, 2020.

Lastly, if families decide to keep their children home from school in response to concerns over COVID-19, the school district will not be providing curriculum for students at home while schools are still in session. As long as the schools are open, curriculum will be delivered in our schools. Families looking to provide curriculum at home when schools are not closed are encouraged to apply for homeschooling through the district and seek a homeschooling curriculum to meet the needs of your child. If a decision is made at some point to close and offer remote learning, that information will be communicated to all families.