Principals adopting new tools to keep tabs on student’s virtual school attendance

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Parents and students have faced many changes this school year, especially for those doing virtual learning from home.

“We definitely understand that challenge because a lot of our parents are at work,” said Yolanda Lankford.

Lankford is the principal at South Baton Rouge Charter School. She says charter school principals are adopting tools to help keep parents in the loop of their students’ school day.

“There’s a system that we use, it’s called Schoology, which is unique to Charter Schools USA with South Baton Rouge charter academy,” said Principal Lankford.

Principal Lankford says the resource allows parents to stay on top of important information, for example, parents can get a live look at their child’s class session.

“So not only are they tracking attendance, but they can keep up with the exact lesson and with what their children are learning,” said Principal Lankford.

However, Principal Lankford says attendance has not been a big issue since virtual learning began. the Louisiana Department of Education says they also have not seen an alarming rate of students enrolled in public schools attending class.

Like EBR and surrounding school systems, Principal Lankford says parents can expect to get a phone call, a text, and then, a letter in the mail if their child does not log in for classes.

“If that doesn’t work then the last resort which we have not had to go to thank God is our school resource officer, would pay a visit to the home and with the parents to see why they are not logging in.”

Principal Lankford says along with education, their ultimate concern is making sure kids have a safe and secure learning space whether at school or at home.

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