Unexcused Absences
Excessive Absences
Truancy
Tardiness
Unexcused Absences
Absences for reasons not listed above will be considered unexcused. Additionally, an absence that might normally qualify as excused may be considered unexcused if the office is not informed of the absence by the start of the school day. When the absence( Grades 9-12) is considered unexcused, a grade of zero may be averaged in the student’ s homework average for the quarter in every class missed due to an unexcused absence, whether or not an assignment was due or given.
Excessive Absences
When an elementary or middle school student( K-8) reaches a total of 16 absences from school, a meeting with the parents will be set up to include the building principal, classroom teacher, and parents. A plan may need to be put into place to determine the need for remediation or retention due to the excessive absences.
If a high school student( Grades 9-12) is absent from a class( for a 1-credit course) for 16 or more days( excused or unexcused), the student automatically loses the credit for the related course. If the course is a 0.5-credit course, credit is lost when the absences from that class total 8 or more.
When a student’ s extenuating needs are expected to exceed these limits, a request for exception must be submitted to the building principal as early in the year as possible. This will allow the administration to meet with the teachers to develop an alternative credit retrieval plan upon approval. Parents who know ahead of time that their student will be missing more than the allotted number of allowed absences must complete an application for an exception. If approved, a proactive plan of implementation will be put into place immediately.
Approved credit retrieval plans must be completed before the last day of school. When this is not possible, the student will be required to complete summer school through a local board of education( or through an alternate educational institution that can issue official high school credit) to retrieve the lost credit. Credit retrieval plans will generally require 2-3 hours of make-up instruction and / or related coursework for each day missed, beginning with the 16 th absence( for a full-credit course) and the 8 th absence for a half-credit course.
Truancy
Deliberate absence without a parent’ s knowledge and permission will be considered an unexcused absence, and disciplinary action will be taken.
Tardiness
Punctuality is very important for a variety of reasons. Therefore, students who are not in the classroom / homeroom before the 8:30 bell rings are marked absent. The tardy student must report to the school office before entering any class to receive a late pass for admission to the class. At the office the student will be issued a tardy slip and the attendance slip will be corrected from absent to tardy. Students who do not report to the office may be marked as absent for the day if the student has not reported to the office when entering late. Students are to arrive at school early enough to report to their classroom / homeroom before the 8:30 AM bell rings.
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