School board puts emphasis on attendance in September

HAMILTON - In order to increase attendance rates, the Marion County Board of Education (MCBOE) has declared the month of September as School Attendance Month. The declaration came during the board’s Tuesday, Aug. 20, meeting.
MCBOE Supervisor Patrick Sutton made the announcement before presenting some alarming statistics to the board and suggesting ways to curb truancy and chronic absenteeism in Marion County schools.  
“All of us, as former students and former teachers,” Sutton said to the board, “know that attendance is the number one factor in student achievement. If the student is not present in the class, you can’t teach them, it’s just that simple.”