CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Tardy students don't make life any easier for the teachers and staff at Pratt Elementary, let alone other county schools who have struggled to make yearly progress.

During a Kanawha County school board meeting Monday, President Becky Jordon asked Pratt Elementary Principal David Anderson about the school's student attendance.

"We have a lot of students signing out or signing in late daily," Anderson said.

Parents or children sometimes sleep in and arrive at school late, he said. Class starts each morning at 7:45 a.m.

Anderson talks to parents about their child's tardiness, but the school's social worker is overwhelmed with tardiness issues.

"They really miss class time and a lot of hands-on activity," Anderson said. These days, it's not as easy to make up a missed hands-on assignment as it was to make up worksheets in years past.

"The problem is some of the parents don't give a darn," said board member Pete Thaw.

Anderson agreed, but later said the students at Pratt are as intelligent and as capable of success as any in the county.

Superintendent Ron Duerring said while the county has tardiness policies, there are no laws in the state code to deter parents from tardiness like there are for absences.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Tardy students don't make life any easier for the teachers and staff at Pratt Elementary, let alone other county schools who have struggled to make yearly progress.

During a Kanawha County school board meeting Monday, President Becky Jordon asked Pratt Elementary Principal David Anderson about the school's student attendance.

"We have a lot of students signing out or signing in late daily," Anderson said.

Parents or children sometimes sleep in and arrive at school late, he said. Class starts each morning at 7:45 a.m.

Anderson talks to parents about their child's tardiness, but the school's social worker is overwhelmed with tardiness issues.

"They really miss class time and a lot of hands-on activity," Anderson said. These days, it's not as easy to make up a missed hands-on assignment as it was to make up worksheets in years past.

"The problem is some of the parents don't give a darn," said board member Pete Thaw.

Anderson agreed, but later said the students at Pratt are as intelligent and as capable of success as any in the county.

Superintendent Ron Duerring said while the county has tardiness policies, there are no laws in the state code to deter parents from tardiness like there are for absences.

School board member Bill Raglin, a retired Union Carbide and Rhone-Poulenc engineer, said he learned that even the best employees in private industry "aren't worth a dime" if they don't go to work.

At Andrew Jackson Middle School, Principal Lisa Woo said children without a valid excuse for tardiness receive automatic lunch detention, where they can't eat outside or in the gym and can't socialize with their friends.

Also, Assistant Principal Robert Somerville is evaluating the "checkouts" to see which students are habitually leaving school early.

Woo suspects the children who often leave early are at-risk. She told a story about talking to one irate parent about keeping her child in school throughout the day. The mother, however, told Woo she would take her child home whenever she pleased.

The focus of Monday's meeting was the efforts that 16 "target schools" are making to improve student achievement. At Pratt, teachers are using new learning programs and bringing in more people to help particularly with reading and math, Anderson said.

The 16 schools include four high schools, seven middle schools and five elementary schools that were flagged this summer for not meeting standards set by the state Department of Education.

Some of the schools need to improve their math and reading scores on the WESTEST 2, the state's standardized test, while others need to improve their graduation rates and their special education students' test results.

Woo noted that the student test scores at Andrew Jackson top the county and state averages in math, reading, science and social studies. Still, the school was flagged for inadequate progress in its special-education test scores -- which is not uncommon at West Virginia's middle schools.

Reach Davin White at davinwh...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1254.