Attendance Guidelines

STUDENT ATTENDANCE – (Board Policies JBD & JBE)

ATTENDANCE HOTLINE (to report absences) 993-7545

Regular attendance is an important part of education and a legal requirement. Only by attending classes can a student receive the full benefit of instruction. Class participation is one of the areas of student performance used to determine grades. Students are expected to attend all classes every day. Families are urged to schedule vacations and appointments for students when school is not in session.

The board requires the regular attendance of all students in their assigned classes and activities. Regular attendance is an important part of education. Only by attending classes can a student receive the full benefit of instruction. Class participation is one of the areas of student performance used to determine grades.

Students are expected to attend all classes. Provisions have been made for those occasions when it is absolutely necessary for a student to be absent. All absences must be restricted to essential causes.

Attendance will be reported every period of the day. All unaccountably absent students will be placed on the daily telephone call list, and reasonable efforts will be made to contact their parents/legal guardians in a timely manner. Parents who do not desire this service must make their wishes known in writing to the school administration.

All absences will be recorded on the student’s permanent record with the exception that district procedures indicate that a student should not be counted absent while on authorized homebound off-campus instruction. Although they are recorded, absences for school-sponsored activities and in-school suspension will be waived when reviewing the total number of absences for the semester. Students who have been absent because of injuries or communicable disease must be admitted by the school nurse before returning to classes and school activities.

A student returning from an absence must present a note from his/her parent/legal guardian specifying one of the six (6) reasons below for granting an excused absence. In exceptional cases, the student living totally independent of a parent or guardian may be given administrative approval to write his/her own excuse. The principal has been designated to determine the acceptability and validity of excuses presented by the parent(s) or the student.

Excused Absence

An excused absence is one which has been classified excused by the building administration. An absence which falls under one of the six board approved reasons for absence will be classified excused if the building attendance procedure is followed by the student and the parent or legal guardian. In-school suspensions are considered excused under current board policies. Make-up privileges shall be allowed for excused absences. Absences shall be excused for:

1. Personal illness.

The school administration may, with due notice to the student or parent/legal guardian, require verification from a physician of absences due to reasons of health.

2. Serious illness or death of a member of the family.

3. Obligatory religious observances of the student's own faith.

4. Participation in a Kansas State High School Activities Association activity, a district-approved function, or a school-sponsored activity.

5. Emergency situation requiring immediate action.

6. An absence which has been requested and approved in advance by the building administration.

Activities of an educational nature or involving the student's family may fall in this category. Assignments are to be requested by the student before the absence occurs. Tests may be made up after the absence. Students who are absent more than 15% of the time per grading period may be subject to loss of credit.

Unexcused Absence

An unexcused absence is one which has been classified as such by the building administration. An absence will be classified unexcused if it does not fit one of the board’s six stated reasons for excusable absence or if the building attendance procedure is not followed by the student and the parent or legal guardian.

The teacher shall inform students of assignments missed. Students shall be encouraged to maintain continuity of learning and course credit by completing the assignments missed during a period of unexcused absence.

Administrative Authority

Building administration has the authority to establish building procedures which promote good attendance. A student who develops a pattern of unexcused absences may be assigned consequences.

Exceptional Students

Exceptional students as identified by special education law shall be subject to current state and federal special services rules, regulations, guidelines, plans, and policies in regard to attendance, discipline, etc.

Late Arrival

After consideration of the special circumstances involved and the potential for successful completion of coursework, the principal shall determine the advisability of allowing regularly scheduled late arrival of a student to school. If special late arrival is allowed, the number of units of credit and length of the school day shall be determined by the principal.

Make-Up Work

It is the student’s responsibility to obtain make-up assignments from teachers following an excused or unexcused absence.

Tardiness

A student is tardy when he/she enters the classroom after the appointed time for the class to begin. Tardiness consequences may include a detention period or other corrective measures including possible suspension for students who are frequently tardy. Students arriving more than 10 minutes late to class will be counted as absent.

Truancy

Students under 18 years of age (21 for special education students) will be referred to the District Attorney’s office as required by state law if they are inexcusably absent three or more days in a row, five days in a semester, or seven days in a school year and fail to resolve the situation after notification.