TOMS RIVER – A pilot program will offer a new real estate class through the business academy at High School South, officials said.
According to a presentation given at a recent Board of Education meeting, students must be 17 or older when they enroll in the course. They will be given all the tools they need to take the real estate licensing exam when they are 18, even if they turn 18 after graduation. The curriculum will come from the Kaplan company.
Students will be offered a 50% discount on the class. The six-month program will cost $164.50.
If the program is successful at South, it might be started at other schools for the 2026-2027 school year, officials said.
This presentation was given during a curriculum committee meeting. There was also a presentation on chronic absenteeism, which is defined as being absent for 10% of the school year or more.
Districts across the country saw a huge decrease in attendance during the worst of the covid epidemic, obviously. This got better after people learned more about the virus and how to protect themselves from it. However, educators nationwide said there was still a huge gap that they are recovering from.
The data in the presentation compared the first half (September through January) of this year with the previous three school years. It was important to note, Superintendent Michael Citta said, that the statistics in the current year were for kids who are at risk of hitting 10% for the year – not that they already did.
Starting in the 2022-2023 school year, 38% of kindergarteners were chronically absent. This went down to the low 20s for the next three years.
First through fifth grade absenteeism were in the low-mid 20s for 2022-2023, but dropped to the high teens for the next three years.
Middle schools had the most fluctuation. Sixth grade chronic absenteeism went from 21% in 22-23, to 13.2, 15.2, to 15.6% in each year. Seventh grade went from 26% to 18, 17, and 21%. Eighth grade went from 29.8% to 18.1, 18.7, and 21.38%.
In high school, the 22-23 year again saw the highest, with 25-31% depending on the grades. The rest of the years were high teens and low 20s.
Any school with more than 10% of kids with chronic absenteeism must create a corrective action plan, according to state law. The average absenteeism in the state is about 14%.
The 2023-24 school year is when the district created plans to reinforce that attendance matters, officials said. There are reminders throughout the year and special events to drive the point home. Every school has an attendance committee that look into students who are at risk of becoming chronically absent.
The officials said that the numbers for this year have a lot to do with a bad flu going around.
