Parents Can Do More to Track Student Absences

As the search for missing Morgan Hill teenager Sierra LaMar stretches into its second month, Pajaro Valley parents may hug their children a little bit closer.

The 15-year-old high school cheerleader disappeared on her way to school on March 16. Despite a massive police response and conducted by hundreds of volunteers, .

One of the many questions raised during the investigation was why Sierra wasn't reported missing sooner. She didn't show up for school and attendance was taken, but her parents weren't notified until 6 p.m., nearly 11 hours after Sierra failed to board her school bus.

Could that happen in Watsonville? Might parents not know their kids didn't make it to school, whether due to foul play or just becausae the ditched class?

Well, honestly, it does every day.

Brett McFadden, the chief business officer for the Pajaro Valley School District, said PVUSD's attendance-tracking system is similar to that at Sobrato High School, where Sierra is a student.

“It’s a different computer system but basically the same thing as 90 percent of all the school districts," McFadden explained recently.

PVUSD uses two student-monitoring programs: E-School and the attendance program. Together, these student information systems handle grades, students' personal information, data tracking, attendance and the school district can even use them to make enrollment projections.

McFadden explained how it works:

“Once a teacher takes roll in the morning that roll is registered into E-Student Plus," he said, which instantly registers the information. “A parent can, on their own, go into E-School Plus or what’s called 'School Loop' … can go online during the day and see if their kid was in school.”

School Loop is an online program in the high schools and most middle schools that teachers and school administrators use to provide online information to families.

Parents of middle and high school students can access School Loop from home or work during the day to see if their kids are in class, but McFadden said he didn't know how many families actually utilize that service.

At the elementary school level, teachers take attendance in the morning, then do visual roll counts in the afternoon to make sure kids are there.

But any unexcused absences aren't notified to parents via robo-call until the late afternoon or early evening. That practice started years ago, McFadden said, to make sure parents got the message.

“Traditionally you did that because the message would go home and the kid would delete it," he said.

The call is made and, after two or three unexcused absence, a letter is sent home automatically. There’s about a week delay in the letter.

“Theoretically, if a parent didn’t check on their student’s enrollment than theoretically, yes, they may not find out that the child didn’t make it to school until sometime into the late afternoon or early evening," McFadden said.

Like what happened in Sierra's case.

There is an option for parents who want more instantaneous information about their children's attendance, McFadden said.

PVUSD offers text and email attendance alerts, which parents had the option of registering for at the start of the school year. If parents want to start that service now, they should contact their school administrators, who can give the parents' contact information to the PVUSD Student Services Department.

“To my knowledge we’re not getting a big influx of people signing up on this thing,” McFadden said.

McFadden, who has two sons in the school district, said good communication within a family can help parents stay informed also. His boys text or call him when they get out of school and keep him up-to-date on their afternoon activities.

For more on the Sierra LaMar case, refer to the Sierra LaMar Disappearance: Comprehensive Updates and Information page on Gilroy Patch.