Malta Public Schools Attendance Policy to be Updated

Malta Public Schools, like many other schools across the state, has struggled with the problem of consistent student attendance. This is a problem that has been steadily growing and has accelerated in recent years. The U.S. Department of Education identifies a chronically absent student as one who is absent 15 or more days in a single school year. The chart on the right is the average number of days absent for our students and the percentage who would be considered chronically absent.

In addition to constantly playing "catch-up" to get students back on track, this level of absenteeism has a di...