Reporting students’ absence electronically is now an option for parents at Lisgar Collegiate.
It allows parents to send an email to the school that includes name, the date or dates of the absence and the reason for the absence.
According to principal David McMahon the response of the parents has been “positive.” He says it is just another convenience the school can provide.
“Nowadays, it is more convenient to make contact by email, that is just something that is happening in our world. Technology keeps moving forward and so are we.” McMahon says many parents sometimes forget to call and by the time they arrive at their office they no longer have the time to make that phone call.
“We are already getting emails from parents’ offices.”
McMahon recognizes the possibility that a student might sign on to their parents’ email account and report their own absence.
“We looked at that, but we came to the conclusion that it is not different to making a phone call.”
McMahon says the possibility always exists for students, whether they phone in or send an email.
“It may happen, but should we deny the convenience for the majority when just a couple of students are trying to use it in a bad way?”
The school will notice when a student tries to pretend to be a parent, McMahon says.
“We can tell by the wording of the email and when we don’t trust it we will call the parent.” McMahon laughs and says parents don’t have to worry about the school falling for hotmail accounts like “sweetiepie649.”