In the 2023 to 2024 school year, on average, there were 92.99% students in attendance, and so far into the 2024 to 2025 school year the number rose to 95.05% of students in attendance, according to the attendance summary report for MHS
Principal Dr. Tracey Waeckerle said this lack of attendance in previous years might have been a result of COVID-19 policies, which encouraged students to miss school at the slightest symptom.
“The more you’re out of school, the harder it is to get back into school,” Dr. Waeckerle said.
Dr. Waeckerle also mentioned that mental health might have also been a factor.“I know it was probably each individual student was kind of having issues for a whole bunch of different reasons,” Dr. Waeckerle said.
In order to limit this increase in absences, Dr. Waeckerle implemented an enforcement to the current attendance policy this year. This enforcement includes requiring doctors notes, restrictions on students leaving and coming back to school, and parents no longer being able to excuse absences as “personal other.”
“Social interactions, the ability to process, comprehend instructions, time management are learned at school,” Dr. Waeckerle said. “You’re going to have takeaways everyday that you wouldn’t necessarily, if you weren’t here.”
Patrick Schrappen, chemistry teacher said these guidelines help significantly decrease unnecessary absences by forcing students to provide notes, which can help hold them accountable.
“Doctors appointments, dentist appointments, going to get a driver’s license, that can be done outside of school time, and if you’re going to do it during school time, that’s your choice, but just realize there are repercussions for your actions,” Schrappen said.
Schrappen said the current guidelines are the best of both worlds because they don’t discourage absences that are important, such as absences created by illness or college visits, but they do limit absences that are unnecessary.
Eva Frazer, senior, comes to school regularly, and has since the beginning of her educational career. While in middle school, she would become upset if she had to miss school.
“My education and my future depends on me coming to school,” Frazer said. “I feel like attendance has been a little bit better, not many people skip my classes.”
Last year, Eli Zigron, sophomore, also often missed school, but he said he has gotten better at not missing this year. Zigron said he believes the guidelines don’t work all the time.
“People are going to skip anyway,” Zigron said.
According to the attendance summary report, the number of unexcused absences is around the same, with 1,252 unexcused days in 2023-2023 and 1,257 in 2024-2025.
