Staff Editorial

The San Ramon Valley school district has recently taken one more step to insure student safety during school hours by  implementing a new attendance system, School Messenger.

With this new system, if a student has been marked absent and the absence has not been cleared by 10 a.m., parents  receive an email notification about the absence

If the absence has still not been cleared by the end of the school day, families will once again be contacted through email and by phone.

This new policy comes in the wake of the kidnapping and alleged murder of 15-year-old high school student Sierra Lamar in Morgan Hill.

On March 6, Lamar was reported missing after her mother was informed in the evening that she had never shown up to school that day.

Later it was admitted that had Lamar’s mother been informed by the school of her daughter’s absence earlier in the day, the case could have had a different outcome.  Lamar’s body has not been found.

The district’s new program not only aids in keeping students safe and giving parents peace of mind, it also enforces attendance.

For students who choose to cut class, parents know about it earlier and can call and persuade their kids to return to class.

If something unfortunate happens to students such as a kidnapping, parents would be aware of it earlier and, if necessary, the police could be alerted sooner.

Though reporting students’ absences does not protect them from unfortunate events,  knowledge of their absence can be used to aid and prevent any incidences, such as Lamar’s.

While it should not take incidents such as Lamar’s kidnapping for the district to initiate student safety policies, it is good to know the district reacted in a uniform and timely manner to take one more step to ensure that students are kept safe during school time.