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JAWS principal gets tough on attendance

With attendance a continuing concern, J.A. Williams High School principal Terry Moghrabi is asking the community to help keep students in the classrooms.
JAWS principal Terry Moghrabi is asking local businesses to not sell merchandise to students during school hours unless they are in Grade 12 and can produce a vaild spare
JAWS principal Terry Moghrabi is asking local businesses to not sell merchandise to students during school hours unless they are in Grade 12 and can produce a vaild spare card.

With attendance a continuing concern, J.A. Williams High School principal Terry Moghrabi is asking the community to help keep students in the classrooms.

Moghrabi said that success in school is directly related to how often students attend class — the less they go, the more likely that they’ll struggle.

Throughout March, the principal said JAWS teachers held over 50 meetings with parents to discuss the poor attendance of their children. In addition to talking to parents, Moghrabi is appealing to Main Street businesses to help keep kids off the street — an idea they tried before and had some success with.

“With the spring weather making outdoors more inviting, I would ask that the business community refrain from selling merchandise during school hours — unless they’re in Grade 12 and can provide a JAWS spare card,” he said. “All other grades have a full schedule and do not have spares.”

The principal wants businesses to ask students who come in during school hours — except during lunch break — one simple question: ‘Why are you not in school?’ Bill Abougoush, owner of Bill’s Burger Baron on Main Street, said he would be totally behind Moghrabi’s idea.

“It’s just part of living in the community — I’d absolutely be behind it,” Abougoush said. “I do have kids coming in and having coffee in the morning — or six kids sitting around sharing a small fries — and it’s obvious that they should be in school.”

Moghrabi said JAWS is very serious about getting students to go to class. The school offers thousands of dollars in cash awards for good attendance, and parents often sign attendance agreements to encourage their children to not skip school. There are also penalties for missing too many classes, including suspensions and losing school bus privileges.

And Moghrabi said the school is also engaging student and parent groups so everyone can work together to tackle the attendance problem. After spring break, the principal said he would be approaching local businesses to ask for their help.

“We can’t be complacent about this,” he said. “And I’d like the help of businesses too. It’s like not selling cigarettes to minors — it’d be great to see businesses not selling merchandise to students when they’re not in school.”




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