Milford chronicle., 1921-09-23
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
FOR SEPTEMBER IS A CHALLENGE TO
--..-.-.. .. The PUBLIC.

Most Of the schools of the stat,
system have opened and have enroll
ed a gratifying number of pupils. The
nigh schools especially are runnine
with larger enrOllments than were
predicted. The trustees of the schools
which have not yet found qualified
teachers are working diligently in an
attempt either to find a teacher vino
is acceptable or to have someone
qualified by examination. This applies,
of course, only to a few of the rural
schools.
Now that the schools are in full
swing with large, and possibly record
breaking enrolment, the question of
attendance is suggested. The action
of the last General Assembly in abol-
ishing the position of attendance Off
Ger puts the issue squaroly up TO the
communities and parents. VIII the at
tendance Of the schools for the COM
ing year, when there is no attendance
officer clothed with the authority of
law, be equal to last years attend
ance, when Il stringent compulsory
clause was in force? This constitutes
a direct challenge to the people of
the state. How will you answer it?
Everybody knows that attendance is
necessary to school progress. Without
being there, how can Il a/child benefit
by the work of the school? Last year.
the amount of absence of the pupils
throughout the state totalled nearly
81 per cent. One third of the pupils
time was lost; one third of the school
funds spent were practically wasted
because of the pupils failure to ac-
cept their opportunity. In September,
1920, the attendance averages for the 7
three counties were:
New Castle COunty-S4.1
Kent County ------.--..-...--.---.74.l
Sussex County. nty.-....-.-.-..-.--..-.--6S.6
These average percentages were
made with the assistance of attend
ance officers backed by law. 1t is up to
the parents of the state to prove that
the judgment of the Legislature in
abOlishing attendance officers was
good by making the attendance for
this month better than the same
month last year and so on for the
rest of the year.
Through the assistance of the Del
aware School Auxiliary Association,
which recognizes the Importance of
this phase of work, the state is to
have the services of four visiting tea
chers, who will assist local boards of
and teachers, parents and
children in securing full cooperation !
between the school and the commun- :
ity and will help as far as possible in =
keeping up attendance. They are to =
do whatever social service work is :
needed in connection with the schools; :
to assist in organizing Parent-Teach- =
ers Associations; to help improve =
to aid teachers in any way
if possible; and to be ready
to answer any call for their services L
from local boards on the particular "
needs of their schools, and interpret u
with them the statistics available =
which apply to their districts. They
nave, however, no legal authority re- h
yarding attendance, such as the at ~
enhance officers had last year. Their
work is to help the school understand
he home and to help the home under q
tand the school and through this mu- }:
ual understanding to make these two
orces work together for the benefit
f the child. Two of the four visiting
eacheTs have already been selected.
he state is fortunate in being able
D secure Miss Ruth Jones, formerly az
f the New Castle County Department 81
f Education, and Miss Edith Waller
f Kent county. The other two will da
e added as soon as satisfactory spec wi
lists are available for the work
But the solution to the problem of su
tendance for the present year lies in
ith the parents of the children of We
,hool age for the challenge of con- AT
tions is theirs. Will the children at or
nd as we'll as last year and the year gu
efore? Parents, you are asked to help m;
lswer this question right and the w;
ate department will try to help in ]
Tery way possible. ed