Low Friday attendance causes LISD to request waiver

LONGVIEW — Seven inches of snow and icy roads were not enough to close down Longview ISD on Friday.

With more than 50 percent of the student body not showing up due to the weather the school district is now requesting an attendance waiver.

"If your attendance rate is 85 percent or lower then you can apply for a waiver," said Brian Bowman, LISD district spokesman. "Basically it cancels that school day out. It does not help the district it does not hurt the district financially or anything else," Bowman added.

The waiver if approved will not count a student absent who did not attend class on Friday but should students have been in class in the first place?

With widespread power outages in Longview most parents say no.

While school officials say they were doing what they thought was in the best interest of students.

"Our main concern was having students in class. Making sure that it was safe for parents and school buses and students to be driving. At the time we felt like it was the right decision," Bowman said.

Some parents weren't upset their children had to go to school but were upset about the lack of communication.

"We didn't know if school was in or out that day," Steven Writt, Longview parent said. "We had to go by our school to see if school was going on."

School officials say they learned from Friday's experience and are working on better ways to communicate with parents and staff.