This year, Benson is once again suffering from the effects of the pandemic.  The post-COVID effect of students not attending class is continuing.

Students refuse to go to class and wander the halls during class for various reasons.

“Class was boring, the teacher just assigned assignments and doesn’t actually teach,” freshman Isaiah Cooper-Cotton said.

For instance, he says that if you ask a teacher a question, she does not answer it.  Instead, she tells him to pay attention.

He isn’t the only one that is missing classes.

“The work isn’t interesting, and the classroom has a bad odor,” freshman Zoey Akers said.

These reasons lead them to being truant.

The district defines truancy in the infractions as “neither the family nor school officials know the student’s whereabouts, or the student is refusing to attend school or class and that There will be not out of school suspension for attendance infractions; OPS attendance policy will be followed.”

Since there cannot be out of school suspension, administrators are sending students to SSC or ISS and hall sweep.

Students who are caught in hall sweeps must go to detention after school.

“If you get caught in a hall sweep you do not get a warning, but you can choose the day you want to come for your detention,” junior Zaria Abraham said.

Each time a student is tardy to class, it leads to their absences.

According to the OPS Code of Conduct, “After 15 cumulative days of unexcused absences, a letter will be sent to the parent(s)/guardian(s) by the designated school official. This letter shall provide notice to the parent(s)/guardian(s) that the district may refer the absences of the child to the county attorney upon twenty days of unexcused absences. This letter shall also provide notice to the parent(s)/guardian(s) that they may request a meeting to review the collaborative plan.”

The legal ramifications for truancy continue.

According to the OPS Code of Conduct, “A referral cannot be made to the county attorney’s office until at least 20 days; however, the school may involve the county attorney at any point in the process of addressing the student’s absences.”