Daniel Schwartz did all the work for his Advanced Placement U.S. History class last spring. He worked hard, learned the material and received a 5 on the AP exam.
But health issues forced the Evanston Township High School senior to miss more classes than the school allowed. So he didn’t received credit for the class, which may affect his college chances and prevent him from graduating with his classmates.
Now Schwartz is fighting to change the ETHS attendance policy to “value learning over presence.” The policy currently states that students will not receive credit for a class if they miss eight days for any reason.
“If you have an ‘A’ or a ‘B’ in a class, there should be a process where you can get credit,” Schwartz said. “I don’t see why they wouldn’t do that.”
Administrators haven’t been receptive to the 17-year-old’s suggestion.
“Maybe he’s a really bright boy and picks up history quickly,” said school board member Jane Colleton. “But if everyone wanted to absent themselves from class simply because they thought they were too smart for a lecture, the system would collapse.”
Colleton learned of Schwartz’s suggestion when the student gave a speech to the school board at their Sept. 22 meeting. In his speech, the student explained his situation and implored the board to consider changing their policy.
School board president Martha Burns called Schwartz’s story “chilling,” and the board formally asked Superintendent Eric Witherspoon to look into the matter.
In an interview Tuesday, Witherspoon said the situation that Schwartz described has never happened at the school.
“We can never discuss any individual,” he said. “But sometimes people might think that they had an ‘A,’ or maybe a passing grade, and that’s not the right situation.”
Administrators also highlighted the importance of the social aspect of school.
“It’s much bigger than just learning,” said Colleton, who called Schwartz’s suggestion “juvenile” and “absurd.”
Other administrators compared school attendance to going to work.
“If you get a job, you can be the best person at that job, but if you don’t show up to work, you’ll get fired,” said ETHS Associate Principal Bruce Romain. “In high school, we need to teach work ethic of showing up.”
Romain added that state code mandates that students cannot get credit for a class if they’re not present at least 90 percent of the time. The code defines students who miss at least 10 percent of class “without valid cause” as “chronic or habitual truant.”
But the term “valid cause” allows each school some leeway, Romain acknowledged.
Romain and Witherspoon both serve on the school’s “attendance review committee,” which hears appeals for special situations.
But the committee only decides whether individual absences are legitimate. They’re not allowed to give credit to students who have eight unexcused absences, Romain said, adding that students should not be treated differently “just because they’re a good student.”
Schwartz said he approached the committee last spring, but they ruled against him.
Instead, he received a “no credit” designation for all but one of his classes. He said he would have received mostly “A’s” and “B’s” for the classes.
School board member Mary Wilkerson said she would be open to looking further into the issue.
But Witherspoon said the school had never considered anything like Schwartz’s suggestion and won’t in the future.
Still, Schwartz said he will continue his fight.
“If a referendum were held tomorrow,” said Schwartz, who said he plans to address the board again at their meeting Tuesday, “I think students and the people of Evanston would want a guy like to me to get credit.”
