Student attendance to be considered in Virginia school accreditation again

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - Virginia schools are going back to being scored on how many days students miss class this year.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools suspended using student absence as a factor in measuring school performance.

The Virginia Board of Education declined the proposal to extend the suspension. Attendance will now be considered for all Virginia school accreditation.

“I think regardless of accreditation, it’s important for kids to be in school, you know. Clearly they can’t learn if they’re not here with us, so even if accreditation was was not a factor in Virginia, we would still be doing everything we could to get every kid in school as much as possible during the school year,” Albemarle County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Patrick McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin says that if a student does miss school, there will be a number of ways available for them to get caught up.

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