Attendance Policy

Note from the Principal: We still have a large number of students that are being dropped off at school before 8:05. As I have said before, our faculty is not required to be on campus until 8:05 therefore those students are unsupervised. I will begin to write letters to the parents of these students which will serve as their final warning. Buses are available for most of our students. if you are one of the few that are required to transport your child because of a special assignment it is your responsibility to make sure your child is dropped off and picked up within the guidelines of our rules. Failure to do this could result in your child being asked to attend his or her home school.

Tardy Policy

• Parent/guardian must sign in student at front office if student is tardy.
• Front office will keep a list of those students who are signed in without a parent/guardian.  If it occurs more than three (3) times, a parent meeting will take place with an administrator and the social worker.
• If a student is late for any other reason than medical, it is an unexcused tardy.

EXCUSED:

• After three (3) excused tardies, parent/guardian is informed that a doctor’s note is required for all further tardies.  Parent/guardian may submit a written note from the doctor for the remainder of the semester stating that the child has continuous appointments.  Each semester, a new medical note is required.  If one is not given, the tardies will then be deemed unexcused.

UNEXCUSED:

1. After three (3) unexcused tardies, a discipline referral for truancy is submitted to an administrator and student receives a verbal warning.
2. After five (5) unexcused tardies, a discipline referral for truancy is submitted to an administrator and student may receive in-school suspension along with having a team meeting involving parent/guardian, social worker, and team teachers.
3. After eight (8) unexcused tardies, a second discipline referral for truancy is submitted to an administrator and student may receive in-school suspension.  The student will no longer be eligible for perfect attendance. If a student is in extracurricular activities, they will jeopardize participation in that week’s events (i.e. sports, clubs etc.).
4. After ten (10) unexcused tardies, a discipline referral for insubordination is submitted to an administrator and student may receive out of school suspension.

Attendance Policy
All Students are expected to attend school regularly and expected to arrive on time. Regular and consistent attendance is necessary for successful school work. Parents and students are expected to cooperate with teachers, attendance counselors, and administrators to insure regular attendance. To achieve an efficient and workable program regarding student attendance, the following procedures will be implemented:

A. Once a student has arrived on the school campus during the school day, the student becomes the responsibility of the school. Any student who comes onto the campus between 8:15 am and 3:19 pm and needs to leave the school must check out through the main office with approval of the principal or designee in charge of attendance. Students who arrive late to school must be accompanied by their parent to the front office in order to check in.

B. In order to participate in special school events, in athletic contests, drama productions, musical productions, etc. the student must be present for three hours and twenty-five minutes or half of the total school day regardless of the daily schedule. Students marked absent on the day of school events will not be allowed to participate in that activity. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or coach to be aware of the attendance of his/her students.

C. The homeroom teacher, classroom teacher, and the school office will keep daily records of attendance, check-ins and early dismissals. If a student is absent several times without valid reasons, a conference with his or her parents may be necessary. If this does not correct the situation, appropriate action will be necessary. Classroom attendance will be recorded each nine weeks on the report card.

D. The Board Policy for student attendance further incorporates by reference any additional rules and regulations of the State Board of Education governing compulsory school attendance and student accounting.

1. All students are required to furnish their homeroom teachers with a parent’s note giving the reason for each absence from school. Students have two (2) days to submit a written excuse, after which it becomes unexcused.

2. It is the student’s responsibility to make up work and tests within the 5 school days allowed for such make-up.

E. Students who are absent ten consecutive days without notifying the school will be dropped from the roll.
Students under 16 will be turned over to the District Attorney’s Office. Letters will be sent home after 3^rd, 6^th, and 10^th unlawful absences.

Lawful Absences

Illness or Injury: An absence is lawful when the absence results from illness or injury which prevents the student from being physically unable to attend school.

1. Quarantine: An absence is lawful when the State Board of Health orders by the local health officer or isolation of the student.

2. Death in the Immediate Family: An absence is lawful when it results from the death of a member of the immediate family of the student. For the purpose of the regulation, the immediate family of a student includes, but is not necessary limited to, grandparents, parents, brothers, and sisters.

3. Medical or Dental Appointments: An absence is lawful when it results from a medical or dental appointment of a student and approval of the appropriate school official is gained prior to the absence, except in the case of an emergency.

4. Court Administrative Proceedings: An absence is lawful when it results from the attendance of a student at the proceedings of a court or an administrative tribunal if the student is a party to the action or under subpoena as a witness.

5. Religious Observation: An absence is lawful if the tenets of a religion to which a student or his parent adhere, require or suggest observance of a religious event. The approval of such absences is within the discretion of the local board of education, but approval should be granted unless the religious observance, or the cumulative effect of the religious observances, is of such duration as to interfere with the education of the student.

6. Educational Opportunity: An absence may be lawful when it is demonstrated that the purpose of the absence is to take advantage of a valid educational opportunity, such
as travel. Approval for such an absence must be granted prior to the absence.
Students between the ages of seven and sixteen and all other students who are entitled to attend public school and who have enrolled in a public school, shall have his/her nonattendance excused/unexcused on the same basis as children of compulsory attendance age, may not be excused for any unlawful absence.

Unlawful Absences

A student’s willful absence from school with or without the knowledge of the parent or guardian

A student’s absence from school for any reason other than those listed under "Lawful Absences."

Parents who refuse to comply with the health regulations of a community, such as compulsory vaccination, thereby causing a student to be excluded from school, or parents who permit a student to stay home or to be employed in any way contrary to the Child Welfare Law, shall be responsible for nonattendance of the student.