Attendance Policy

It is each student’s basic responsibility as a member of the school community to be on time and attend all classes. Daily telephone calls will be made to parents/guardians to report student absences.

The district will support and encourage a student’s efforts to maintain or improve school attendance. Students who are truant or who have excessive absences will be disciplined according to the provisions set forth in the district’s Code of Conduct.

Students are allowed twenty (20) absences in a full-year course, ten (10) absences in a semester course and fi ve (5) absences in a quarter course. Any absences from school for illness, doctor or dentist appointments, court appearances, death in the family, college visits, family emergency or vacation, and other such reasons, are counted in this total.

The school recognizes that attendance may be affected by extenuating circumstances. Written documentation from the doctor, physical therapist, court, counselor, or other such provider must be submitted to the school in order for any of these absences to be considered as extenuating circumstances. Notes must be written on business letterhead or be from a prescription pad and must include:

  • Dates
  • Times for each date (i.e. all day, from 8:00 am to 10 am, from noon until the end of the day, etc.)
  • Specific reason the student was unable to attend school
  • The provider’s signature

Notes from parents/guardians are not accepted. School-sponsored college visits, field trips, conferences, and other such events do not count toward class absences. Additionally, absences due to suspension are not counted in class totals of absences.

Procedure
Four stages of intervention are outlined in the school district’s attendance policy:

  1. Parents/guardians will be informed when the student has missed 25% of the allowable number of absences for a course (5 absences for a full year course, 3 absences for a semester course, 1 absence for a quarter course) through a phone call and/or letter.
  2. The student will be notified when he/she has missed 50% of the allowable number of absences for a course (10 for a full year course, 5 for a semester course, 3 for quarter course) and written notification will be provided to parents/guardians.
  3. An attendance meeting is held with the student, teacher, Guidance Counselor, parent/guardian, Principal and others (i.e., probation officer, advocate, CSE chairperson) as deemed appropriate when the student has missed 75% of the allowable number of absences. (15 in a full year course; 7 in a semester course, 4 in a quarter course) to develop an attendance plan.
  4. An attendance hearing takes place when a student has missed 100% of the allowable number of absences. (20 in a full year course, 10 in a semester course, 5 in a quarter course.) At this time, the attendance plan will be reviewed and any extenuating circumstances will be taken into consideration. The teacher, Guidance Counselor, and Principal will make a determination in regards to the status of the student’s continued enrollment in the class after meeting with the student and parent/guardian. If the student is removed from the class, the student will have to repeat it in its entirety in order to earn course credit. Therefore, the student will not be permitted to take the course in summer school. All involved parties will receive written notification of the attendance hearing decision.

Tardiness
Students are expected to arrive to school, and to each class, on time. If you are late to school, you must bring a note signed by your parent/ guardian to the Nurse. At the third and each tardy thereafter, to either school or to a class, a detention may be assigned. If more than half of an instructional period is missed, the tardy becomes a reportable absence from that class.

Early Release
In order to be released early from school, a written note from your parent/guardian is required. Medical releases are handled through the Nurse’s Offi ce; other reasons for release must be submitted to the Main Offi ce. The person seeking your release must come into the offi ce and sign the register in the Main Offi ce when picking you up.

Cutting Class
Cutting class is when you are not absent or excused from school but fail to attend a scheduled assigned class or study hall. This results in an automatic detention. Should this become a recurring problem, more severe penalties will be imposed.