Board limits absences to 10 days

BOARDMAN -- The board of education has limited the permissible number of days of absence without a doctor's certification to 10 per semester for high school students.
The state standard merely specifies that a maximum of 20 days may be missed in a school year without a doctor's certification.
But the board limited students to 10 per semester per course because many of the district's offerings are semester courses, and missing more than 10 days in that short time would put a student at a significant disadvantage, said Kimberly S. Poma, board president.
Under the policy adopted Monday, students absent for more than 10 days per semester who don't get a doctor's certification of a chronic medical problem necessitating the absence can face expulsion or lose course credit.
In other action, the board approved the transfer of $101,717 from the bond retirement fund to the permanent improvement fund as approved by Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, with the money designated for high school improvements.
The money consists of funds no longer needed to pay off the debt on the high school, on which construction began in 1969. Some $98,000 of that money has already been spent on items including graffiti removal, security camera and door replacements, band room recarpeting, floor retiling in 10 classrooms, and athletic complex painting, said James R. Massey, operations manager.