Addressing Long Absences

The Montauk Teachers Association issued a letter to the school board on Tuesday asking that the district take a tougher stance on its attendance policy. Students who take extended vacations often fall behind and struggle to keep up with their classmates, said Laura Schilling, a special education teacher.

After the meeting, teachers said that the stakes are higher now, since the state has imposed standardized testing, known as the Common Core, which the Montauk teachers have embraced, unlike many others statewide.

In Montauk, parents who work through summer vacation often take their children out of school for long periods before and after the February or spring breaks, sometimes for months at a time. It is when these vacations are prolonged that the students find it harder to catch up with schoolwork, Ms. Schilling said.

At present, a student who misses 20 days of school is taken off the enrollment rolls, said Jack Perna, the district superintendent.

Ms. Schilling said the teachers association considered the change after many months of research. She said the teachers have recognized a pattern with students who go away for extended periods. “It has illuminated the struggles the students have on state tests,” she said.

Teachers said that though some students are tutored during long breaks, the tutors are often not certified instructors and unaware of newer teaching methods.

Jason Biondo, a school board member, asked what constitutes a long period of time and was told it could be months or six to eight weeks.

Along with the teachers’ letter, the board also received from Ms. Schilling copies of other schools’ attendance policies to review. The board tabled its discussion until its next meeting, on Oct. 28.

A group of eighth-grade parents has asked about holding the June graduation ceremony outdoors this year, the board learned. Mr. Perna said a parent had asked him to bring the notion before the school board. Mr. Biondo said he was part of that group and has a child graduating in June.

Traditionally, the eighth-grade graduation ceremony takes place in the school gym on one of the hottest days of the year. “It would just look nice out on the field,” said Mr. Biondo, who added that one parent came up with the idea and it “snowballed” from there.

Board members said that it wasn’t that easy to just up and move the ceremony. Noting the acoustics of being indoors versus outside, they said the band and chorus would have to be part of the decision. Also, the cost of a tent for the ceremony could be upward of $10,000, and a tent would be mandatory for an outdoor event, the board said.

Moreover, members said the school must take into consideration hauling chairs down a steep hill to the ball field for the ceremony, as well as handicapped access and parking on narrow Second House Road, which is a secondary and level entrance to the school field.

Parents are willing to hold fund-raisers to pay for the tent and other expenses, Mr. Biondo said. “This is not a lazy group of parents. They’ll do what they have to do.”