The so-called “robo-calls” that began on Wednesday are aimed
at rousting about 500 students, the worst-offending sleepyheads, from bed and
getting them to school on time.
“It’s 6:15 and it’s Durfee High School calling,” booms the
voice of Principal Paul Marshall of B.M.C. Durfee High School in Fall River,
according to Vice Principal Ross Thibault.
Robo-calls are typically used to notify parents of
weather-related school delays and cancellations.
Durfee joins other US schools in Massachusetts and Illinois
and New York which have taken on the added role of alarm clock to combat high
rates of tardiness and absenteeism.
In New York City the wake-up calls feature the voice of
former professional basketball star Magic Johnson.
At Durfee High School in Fall River, about 74 km south of
Boston, 20 percent of the student body will be getting routine phone calls at
home at 6:15 a.m. The school day’s first class begins at 7:45 a.m.
Administrators hope the effort will boost attendance from 88
percent now to at least 95 percent.
“Historically, we have battled attendance problems. We are
an urban district and our attendance has always been a concern,” Thibault said.
The school resorted to the calls after failing to improve attendance
with punishments like detention or enforced study hours at schools, he added.
