One of the questions related the mold remediation and cleaning at the Sept. 21 parents meeting at Huddleston Elementary School in Peachtree City dealt with student absences. The Citizen obtained attendance records for three weeks in September from several areas school to determine how those absences compared.
It was noted by Deputy Superintendent Sam Sweat earlier in the week that six or seven Huddleston teachers are out on workers compensation. But what of student absences?
Several parents in the group of more than 100 at the Sept. 21 meeting referenced their children who were ill, though no one asked for a show of hands that might have helped determine the number of children thought to be sick due to mold exposure.
The data below provided by the Fayette County School System is meant to be comparative rather than definitive. This is because, and as has been noted by some parents, symptoms such as headache, nose bleed or respiratory issues do not always result in a trip to the school nurse or an absence from school.
That said, school absences are tallied in several categories. Those include check out – excused absence, check out – unexcused absence, excused with documentation, tardy – excused absence, tardy – unexcused absence and unexcused. Provided for sampling purposes, the numbers below reflect a combined tally of all absences from three elementary schools in Peachtree City, one in Tyrone and one in Fayetteville.
Absences span the three-week period beginning Sept. 1 and extending to Sept. 18.
Huddleston, with 606 students, had a total of 241 absences during the 13-day period, with a high of 36 absences on Sept. 4 and a low of nine on Sept. 10. Huddleston averaged 18.5 absences per day.
Kedron, with 583 students, had a total of 187 absences during the 13-day period, with a high of 24 on Sept. 4 and a low of four on Sept. 1. Kedron averaged 14.4 absences per day.
Oak Grove, with 461 students, had a total of 177 absences during the 13-day period, with a high of 20 on Sept. 4 and a low of one of Sept. 17. Oak Grove averaged 13.6 absences per day.
Burch, in Tyrone with 539 students, had a total of 170 absences during the 13-day period, with a high of 27 on Sept. 11 and a low of nine on Sept. 3. Burch averaged 13.1 absences per day.
Spring Hill, in Fayetteville with 733 students, had a total of 297 absences, with a high of 37 on Sept. 4 and a low of 10 on Sept. 10. Spring Hill averaged 22.8 absences per day.
