It took me a while to meet my communication goals, because Mrs. step was not their for a while.

Does this sentence need the comma before because?

No. A comma is not needed.

But you need to capitalize Step. Also correct your homonym spelling error.

Okay

It took me a while to meet my communication goals because Mrs. Step was not there for a while.
Now is the sentence correct?

Yes, it's correct now. :-)

Thank you

You're welcome.

Yes, the sentence needs a comma before "because." In this case, the comma is used to indicate a dependent clause (the part of the sentence that starts with "because") that is providing a reason or explanation for the main clause of the sentence.

To determine whether a comma is needed before "because," we can use the following guide:

1. If the dependent clause (introduced by "because") comes before the main clause, a comma is usually needed. For example: "Because it was raining, we decided to stay indoors."

2. If the dependent clause comes after the main clause, a comma is usually not needed. For example: "We decided to stay indoors because it was raining."

In the given sentence, "because Mrs. Step was not there for a while" comes after the main clause ("It took me a while to meet my communication goals"). Therefore, a comma is needed before "because" to separate the dependent clause from the main clause.

Corrected sentence: "It took me a while to meet my communication goals because Mrs. Step was not there for a while."