Mark Sommaruga Quoted in Forbes on How School Attendance Policies are Affected by COVID-19

Mark Sommaruga, School Law attorney at Pullman & Comley was quoted in a Forbes article on how strict attendance policies may change after the COVID-19 pandemic. Until recently, sending sick children to school was not uncommon due to parents' work pressure, high childcare costs, and school attendance policies. Mark points out that funding may be another key factor in schools not encouraging sick kids to stay home. 

“Oftentimes, state funding for schools is based upon ‘average daily membership’ or the like, which may reflect school attendance/student enrollment on a certain date (or an average of certain dates,” Mark says. Procedures like this are expected to change after COVID-19, with the CDC already urging both employers and schools not to have policies like this in place.

“Just as there has been discussion of the end of the old-fashioned snow day, the pandemic may lead to permanent approaches that bring the school to the student whenever the student cannot come to school,” he said.

To read the full article, please visit the Forbes website.