When parents send their kids to school, they expect that they’re actually attending classes. But, of course, teens will be teens, and they’re tempted to skip class. For one particular high school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania — they have a serious problem with unexcused absences and the new principal wasn’t having it.
The problem was — the teens were going to school, they just weren’t ever attending class. They would just hang around the school grounds.
The Harrisburg High School principal, named Lisa Love, was sick and tired of her students missing out on their education. Since the kids were at school, their parents assumed everything was fine — Love knew she’d have to start getting the parents involved.
To accomplish her plan, Love decided to start handing out suspensions to students who weren’t in class. The notices would be sent to their parents.
The principal issued over 500 suspension notices to students; they had missed 35 classes during a 9-week span. The same as missing an entire week straight.
Sadly, Love’s efforts aren’t going exactly as planned. Many parents were able to provide the school with documentation for their absences, making them no longer unexcused.
Harrisburg High School suffers from a low graduation rate and low test scores. Love’s radical efforts were intended to hopefully bring the issue to light for the families of the 1,100 students that attend the school.
“I am not able to do those things that will help students become college and career ready if they are not in the classrooms learning,” Love expressed in the video below.
“My plan was to, at least, give parents the opportunity to help me address the attendance issues with the students,” she adds.
“If you’re not in class, all you’re here to do then is to wreak havoc upon the school and disrupt the work that we are trying to do here. And that’s to focus on student achievement,” she said.
Principal Lisa Love is trying her best to improve her school; her tactics are bringing mixed results. After watching Lisa’s remarks in the video below, what’s your stance on her actions?
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