As of August 8, 2016, parents of Timber Creek students began receiving emails regarding seat time from the past school year. The email revealed that students may not obtain credits during the former semester due to excessive absences within specific classes.
Having missed multiple classes may jeopardize a student’s ability to pass their previous grade. Students may make up seat time at the high school before or during the 2016-2017 school year and may email the assistant principal, Shawn Elliot, or the attendance office concerning questions about seat time.
“In high school you have to earn credits, and if students fall below 90% attendance in a class, they don’t receive credit for that class,” said Elliott.
There are ways for the students to complete their seat time so that they can earn credit for the class and move on to the next grade.
“Students have two options: they may fulfill seat time and receive their 90% attendance for that class, or they won’t get to move on to the next year.”
Students may attend either tutorial time before or after school during the year, or they may attend Saturday school, beginning within three weeks of the new semester. Seat time may depend on class periods that students did not gain credit for, determining how many hours a student must collect in order to reinstate their class credit.
“For first and fifth period, a student may have up to nine absences total per semester. If they have more, they lose credit for that class. For second, third, or fourth periods they can have four absences before gaining seat time,” Elliott said. “Seat time is the total accumulative time. They will mainly be doing tutorials or catching up with their teachers; tutorials count as double time, while saturday school is just straight time.”
While many students received this email for owing seat time, others may have incorrectly received the email.
“There was a computer error and some of them were by mistake,” Elliott said. “The email went out to parents who shouldn’t have received it, and the error is currently being corrected. I have already answered probably 200 emails from parents about seat time, and so the preference would be for parents to email me or attendance about any concerns.”
Students may pick up a credit recovery form from the office regarding fulfilling seat time. Parents may call or see the attendance office starting August 17, 2016. EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version provided an incorrect date for the start of credit recovery communications.
Elliott told Talon reporters that the preferred and most beneficial way of contacting the school regarding seat time issues include emailing him directly, or emailing attendance after Aug. 17.