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Regular attendance is necessary if students are to make the desired and expected academic and social progress. However, the district recognizes that some absences are unavoidable.
Absence Policy
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Students are required to bring written documentation for absences within 5 days from the day they return from an absence. Parents who anticipate a student’s absence of more than five consecutive days should apply immediately for homebound instruction.
The principal shall approve or disapprove absences in excess of 10 (5 for semester classes). A medical note or other documentation will be required after a student accumulates 10 absences (5 for semester) in order to assist the principal in making that decision.
Absences with no documentation are automatically considered unlawful.
Students who accumulate 3 consecutive unlawful absences or a total of 5 unlawful absences will be considered truant. Parents/guardians and students (12 years and older) will be contacted to develop a written Attendance Intervention Plan. Failure to participate and/or adhere to the plan will result in a referral to the District Attendance Office and/or Family Court.
Lawful Absence(s)
- The student is ill and attendance at the school would endanger the student’s health or the health of others.
- There is a death in the student’s immediate family. Three absences per occurrence.
- There is a serious illness in the student’s immediate family. Absences of this nature should not exceed
- Recognized religious holiday of the student’s faith.
- Emergencies and/or extreme hardships at the discretion of the principal.
Unlawful Absence(s)
- The student is willfully absent from school without the knowledge of his/her parents.
- The student is absent without acceptable reason with the knowledge of his/her parents.
- The student is absent and fails to turn in an acceptable note within 5 days of the student’s return from an
- The student accumulates more than 10 absences and a medical note is not received.
Chronically Absent/Chronic Absenteeism
- Any student in grades K-12 who misses 50 percent or more of the instructional day for any reason for 10 percent (or more) of the enrollment period.
- All types of absences (excused absences, unexcused absences, suspensions) contribute to chronic absenteeism.
Truancy
- Truant: A child from age five until age seventeen years meets the definition of a truant when the child has three consecutive unlawful absences or a total of five unlawful absences. (Suspension is not counted as an unlawful absence for truancy purposes.)
- Habitual Truant: A child, ages 12 to 17, who accumulates two or more additional unlawful absences after an intervention plan has been developed by the school, parent/guardian and the child.
- Chronic Truant: A child, ages 12 to 17, who has been through the intervention process and who has reached the level of habitual truant, has been referred to Family Court and placed under a school attendance order, and continues to accumulate unlawful absences.