Policy committee reviews attendance thresholds; trustees propose half‑year adjustments

The Carmel Central School District's policy committee met informally in April to review the district's student attendance policy, discussing how to count absences in full‑year and half‑year courses and whether classroom practices such as students using personal cell phones for attendance need separate policy guidance.

Speaker 3, the committee chair (identified in the transcript as Trustee, Speaker 3), reminded the group that the meeting was informal and "we cannot make any decisions, but we can have an informal discussion." Staff summarized principal concerns about the current language on "excessive absences," which read in places as 24 days for elementary and middle school and 20 days for high‑school full‑year courses. Trustees and staff debated how to apply thresholds to half‑year or alternate‑day classes.

Staff (Speaker 2) noted the draft's 20‑day threshold for full‑year high‑school courses and asked whether a half‑year course should have half the threshold. Committee members agreed in discussion to draft language that treats half‑year classes proportionally — for example, 10 days for half‑year high‑school courses and 12 days for half‑year middle‑school courses — but the chair reiterated that such measures would need formal board action at a later meeting when quorum is present.

Parents and other participants raised a related concern about practice: some Carmel High School classes reportedly require students to record attendance via their personal cell phones. Parents said that practice raises accountability and property‑loss issues. Trustee discussion concluded that device use and device management are better handled in a separate device policy rather than the attendance policy itself; the committee asked staff to prepare redline language and to bring the proposed revisions to a first read at a future meeting.

The committee emphasized that the goal of attendance thresholds is school‑family communication and early outreach; members repeatedly noted that thresholds should trigger conversations and supports rather than immediate punitive measures. The committee asked staff to circulate a revised draft ahead of the next scheduled policy meeting so trustees can review the proposed half‑year language and the device‑use guidance before any formal vote.

Because the committee lacked the quorum required to adopt policy changes, no formal action was recorded at this meeting.