Lost Students and Concerned Parents

By Julia V. Alicdan, Reporter            Published March 11, 2020

Sometimes parents can’t get a hold of their children for one reason or another, but what happens in that situation? When children have their phones away for a test, quiz, or plainly because of rules in first period, how can a worried parent get a hold of their child? Anita Wagner, the NWCTA staff member responsible for attendance management, is one of the best people to ask about how attendance works on the inside.

 “Attendance is always taken either by the teacher or a sub. When the Infinite Campus is updated with an absence or tardy mark the parent is notified through their IC account.” This is the first step of finding a child, the parent being notified that they’re not present. When this happens, parents of responsible children that always go to school may question what’s going on and try to contact their child, at times this has no result.

“We are not allowed to give information over the phone without verification. If the parent can not provide the information needed, then they will have to come to the front office to show proof of their identification before any information is provided.” There are a lot of safety precautions when it comes to finding a lost student, so when parents call they can’t just be outright given information because it could be a non-parental guardian.

Sometimes when the situation is confirmed to be worse than initially expected, extreme measures must be taken. “If the student is not on campus and the parent is concerned or unaware of their student's location then the authorities will need to be notified.” When authorities are called, many times a missing person’s report is filed and people are questioned about the person’s last whereabouts and if they know anything about the issue at hand.

“This process works,” and losing a child is can be a very stressful time for anyone involved. The steps have good reasons to back them up, all of which are valid according to safety guidelines. The process that the administration at our school uses is an efficient way to follow through without breaking any regulation.