All Creek students have heard the announcements over the loudspeaker at the beginning of class, had a teacher rushing to put in their attendance, and seen the “Z” in Powerschool, but what exactly is October count?
Every single October, teachers across the state are required to take positive attendance for all of their classes. Positive attendance is when teachers have to mark every single student’s attendance.
“We take accurate attendance everyday, so count day is a normal day, except we press ‘Z’ for positive attendance,” history teacher Jonathan Johnson said.
By proving the attendance of students, Creek is able to verify the student body to the state of Colorado.
“For each student we get roughly $8,800. So by not being able to officially count a student then we forfeit the $8,800 that each kid represents,” Principal Ryan Silva said.
If able to prove student attendance, Creek receives money that is fundamental for all equipment used by students and admin.
“It’s used to pay for materials like books and paper, computers, really all of our operational costs. And I would imagine it also goes into personnel staffing, paying for people to be here for kids,” Silva said.
Most teachers simply do what they do everyday, with the addition of an extra letter in their attendance routine. Teachers like Jonathan Johnson just take an extra two minutes to make sure their attendance is correct.
Not every teacher necessarily has it as easy. In classes like band, taking attendance can be slightly more complicated.
“At the beginning of class there’s a lot of logistical things. Kids are getting their instruments, kids are putting together their instruments, they’re not always in the room within the first, like, three minutes of class,” band teacher Tim Libby said.
For teachers like Libby, it’s more difficult to stay on top of attendance, especially when they only have a shortened time to do so — it often adds another stressor. “I kinda have to be on top of it on those days and, like, get it done in the first 10 minutes,” he said.
Despite having it harder than other teachers, Libby understands why October count is important to the school.
“I wouldn’t call it a hassle. It’s a little hectic, especially if I forget, but it’s not a hassle,” Libby said.
