Oregon public schools had the third-highest rates for chronic absenteeism in the country in the 2023-24 school year. As a result, Grant High School is introducing new policies for the 2025-26 school year to help raise the school’s average daily attendance.
Grant’s attendance policies have remained relatively consistent over the past four years: Whether students missed class for an appointment, vacation or illness, their parents simply needed to fill out a form to excuse the absence. Unexcused absences typically had no major consequences. This year, however, students must attend at least half of the school day and enter appointments online 24 hours before their absence to participate in Grant-affiliated after-school activities that day. Accumulated tardies and unexcused absences will also result in repercussions.
Portland Public Schools has set goals for the district to improve its attendance, but it has been up to individual schools to develop their own policies. Grant’s is titled “Every Minute Matters.” This policy requires students to maintain above 90% attendance or have less than 300 “learning minutes lost” to participate in sports, extracurriculars or attend school events.
The “learning minutes lost system” was developed by Principal James McGee, Vice Principal Luis Jara and Grant Attendance Coach Reid Tingley. A student is considered “tardy” if they arrive late within the first 20 minutes of class, which yields them 10 “learning minutes lost.” A student is “late after tardy” if they arrive past the 20-minute window, resulting in 20 “learning minutes lost.” Unexcused absences or being marked “skipping” adds 20 minutes as well. Students can track their data in a Canvas course titled “GHS Attendance.”
Tingley says the policy is built around “setting expectations for students that are clear, and then giving them the tools to see where they stand in relation to them … and then also providing resources and support and inviting students in who need extra support.”
According to McGee, Grant’s attendance issues existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, but were exacerbated because of it, and there has been minimal improvement since. Despite remedial attempts to improve attendance by calling families, facilitating home visits and requiring attendance above a certain threshold for school dances, the overall trend persisted. “Part of that (low attendance rate) is because we’ve normalized poor attendance in this state and in this community,” says McGee.
By structuring the policy around incentives, McGee is hopeful that the new rules will help improve Grant’s overall attendance. “If you plan on being here in the evening — i.e. performing, whether that’s on the stage (or) on the court then you’ve got to be here during the day,” he says.
McGee notes that many students justify low attendance with good grades, which he disagrees with. “Here at Grant … our goal is not for students to have good grades, it’s for students to meet their potential,” McGee says. “And if you’re getting good grades and yet you’re missing 20% of your (classes), you’re not meeting your potential.”
The policy has gone through notable changes since its announcement in August. On Aug. 25, Chantiel Attmore, McGee’s administrative assistant, wrote in a StudentSquare and ParentSquare post that “medical notes will now be required from your practitioner for all medical appointments.” This plan was later backtracked to follow a COVID-19-era Oregon state law, which prohibits schools from requiring doctors’ notes for excused absences.
“Learning minutes lost” can be earned back through flex or after-school detention. Flex slips, through which students can earn back minutes by visiting one of their teachers and making up work during flex time, are available in both the counseling center and Tingley’s office. Students must ask their teacher to sign off on the slip to earn back the time.
“We’re trending better than we were last year at this time,” Tingley says. “Attendance in general usually is better at the start of the year, so it will be interesting to check back in later.”
