“Unless you are dead or dying, you come to school,” the Dean said.

The state has set attendance targets that we are trying desperately to meet. Morning announcements have begun to tell absenteeism totals. We are running below expectations. My grade had eighty-nine point something percent attendance according to this morning’s announcements. I’m not sure for what time period.

Eduhonesty: Having another ambivalent moment here. I know that students need to be in school to learn. I know that improved attendance should improve test scores. But I also have been sicker this year than I remember in any previous teaching year. I’ve already had a five-day fever with the flu, another feverish infection that lasted weeks at the start of the year, a cold and a sinus infection. The year is only half over. Are you sure we can’t keep the not-quite-dying home? At least some of my school’s attendance problem has to be the many microbes breeding in our hallways each day.