Attendance has always been a top priority among Albany High School’s staff. As of late January, however, they’ve implemented several new, more efficient ways to make sure students are getting to class in a timely manner.

Hall sweeps had long been a feature synonymous with Albany High School’s attendance measures. Traditionally, these sweeps had been conducted during random periods throughout the day and would have been preceded by an announcement alerting students and staff alike that the sweep was taking place. As of January 2012, this was no longer the case; sweeps were then conducted without warning during any part of the day, forcing students to remain diligent about their timeliness.

All benefits aside, however, sweeping was not a perfect system. The ultimate goal of the initiative was to ensure optimal attendance within the classrooms, which is certainly key to academic success. However, once students were swept, they were sent to the auditorium for the remainder of the period, perhaps even longer in some cases. The result was that while a message was sent regarding the imperativeness of timeliness, many first-time offenders who may have just been running late ended up missing valuable class time.

For those exact reasons, the staff’s latest initiative, Random Attendance Checks, was implemented on February 9th. These checks are conducted through the school’s online attendance system during random periods of the day. Any student who is identified as “tardy” has his student ID temporarily deactivated. When the student next goes to scan his ID, he is informed that he has been “RAC’d” and is let off with a warning the first time. Subsequent offenses can result in such punishments as suspension.

The RAC system itself was the brainchild of Ms. Julie Barber, Innovation Academy Principal. Ms. Barber came to Albany High School in January 2011 and almost immediately posited the RAC system as an alternative to the apparently flawed hall sweeps. Her reasoning was that attendance could be monitored much more efficiently and fairly through an electronic medium; though it would be another year before the system would actually be implemented, her foresight was on the right track.

According to Ms. Barber, there has been a twenty percent decrease in overall tardiness since the RAC system was implemented. Furthermore, the system has generally seen a warm reception; the inevitable anger between staff and students seen with hall sweeps is a thing of the past. No longer do staff members find they have to issue referrals to students noisily lingering in the halls and disturbing ongoing classes. Students hear from their friends who have gotten RAC’d, and decide that they don’t want any part of it. As the percentages show, the system simply catches on.

One unintended benefit of the RAC system would be its effect toward study halls—at least, depending on who you ask. The RAC system does not differentiate between a study hall and a class, meaning those students who choose not to show up to study hall will certainly be penalized. Some students have reacted negatively to this turn of events, but it is one that they will simply have to accept.

“Study hall is not just a free period,” says Ms. Barber. “Students do have a place they have to be.”
Furthermore, that a student was coming to class from Abrookin will no longer fly as an excuse for tardiness. There is a bus that will allow students to travel from Abrookin back to Albany High School with ease; IDs belonging to students who travel to Abrookin should feature a sticker identifying such; and Ms. Barber and a coworker—who are admittedly not the quickest of walkers—even went out of their way to time the walk from Abrookin back to the high school, concluding that the time allotted to students is ample time to avoid tardiness.

All of these changes have boded well with security personnel, according to head of security Mr. Jack Grogan. A former member of the Albany Police Department for twenty-three years, Mr. Grogan first came to Albany High School three years ago.
“The first part of the year was a bit difficult, but change comes slowly.” says Mr. Grogan, “Students are showing cooperation and positive attitudes, as they ultimately want to graduate and succeed in life.”

In terms of actual security protocol, Mr. Grogan says that the addition of the four academies introduced some new difficulties, as this meant there were four new offices which had to be accounted for. Nevertheless, the adjustment has proved far from impossible for all involved.

Efficiency appears to be the plan moving forward. According to Ms. Barber, hall sweeps shall not be returning in the future, and RACs shall be implemented again in September 2012 so as to get any new students acclimated to them right away. The continued efforts of the staff regarding the matter of attendance cannot go unnoticed. If this school year has been any indication, such dedication certainly pays in dividends. With any luck, the issue of attendance will be totally resolved sooner rather than later—and that will be a major step toward proving that Albany High’s renovations are increasingly preparing the Falcons for success beyond high school.