5100

ATTENDANCE

The Board of Education recognizes that regular school attendance is a major component of academic success.  Through implementation of this policy, the Board expects to reduce the current level of unexcused absences, tardiness, and early departures (referred to in this policy as AATEDs@), encourage full attendance by all students, maintain an adequate attendance recordkeeping system, identify patterns of student ATEDs and develop effective intervention strategies to improve school attendance.

Definitions

Whenever used within the Comprehensive Attendance Policy, the following terms shall mean:

1.                  Scheduled instruction:   Every period that a pupil is scheduled to attend instructional or supervised study activities during the course of a school day during the school year.

2.                  Absent: The pupil is not present for the entire period of the pupil=s scheduled instruction.

3.                  Tardy: The pupil arrives later than the starting time of the pupil=s scheduled instruction.

4.                  Early Departure: The pupil leaves prior to the end of the pupil=s scheduled instruction.

5.                  Excused: Any absence, tardiness, or early departure for which the pupil has a valid school approved excuse.  Such excused non-appearance shall include: personal illness, illness or death in the family, religious observance, quarantine, required court appearances, attendance at health clinics or other medical visits, approved college visits, military obligations, absences approved in advance by the Principal, and other reasons as may be approved.

6.                  Unexcused: Any ATEDwhich the pupil has no valid school approved excuse.  Such unexcused non appearance shall include shopping trips to the local mall, oversleeping, skipping class, family vacation days when school is in session, hunting, fishing and any other absence that is not excused.

Notice

To be successful in this endeavor, it is imperative that all members of the school community are aware of this policy, its purpose, procedures and the consequences of non-compliance.  To ensure that students, parents, teachers and administrators are notified of and understand this policy, the following procedures shall be implemented.

C         The attendance policy will be included in student handbooks and will be reviewed with students at the start of the school year.

C         When a student is absent, tardy, or leaves early from class or school without excuse, designated staff member(s) will notify the student=s parent(s) by phone and mail of the specific ATED, remind them of the attendance policy, and review ATED intervention procedures with them.

C         A back-to-school event will be held at the beginning of each school year to explain this policy and stress the parent=s responsibility for their ensuring their children=s attendance.

C         School newsletters and publications will include periodic reminders of the components of this policy.

C         All faculty and staff will meet at the beginning of each school year to review the attendance policy to clarify individual roles in its implementation.

All ATEDs must be accounted for.  It is the parent=s responsibility to notify the school office within five (5) days of the ATED and to provide a written excuse upon the student=s return to school.

General Procedures/Data Collection

C         Attendance data will be analyzed periodically to identify patterns or trends in student absences.

C         Where consistent with other school practices, teachers and staff shall detain students in the hallways who are absent from a class period without excuse and refer the students to the Building Principal.

C         Continuous monitoring will be conducted to identify students who are absent, tardy, or leave class or school early.

Coding System

The following coding system shall be used to indicate the nature and reason for a pupil=s missing all or part of scheduled instruction:

UNX = unexcused

UNV = unverified absence

SUS = suspended

TDL = tardy - legal

TDI =  tardy - illegal

ILL =   illness

LEG=  legal medical appointment

CUT -  truant

TUT -  tutoring (for medial reasons)

MISC =other

c.In order to encourage student attendance, the following strategies and incentives shall apply:

Minimum Attendance for Course Credit

a.   A student must be noted as present at 90% of a course=s scheduled classes in order to earn credit for the course.  Any excused absence, for which the student has completed assigned make-up work, will not be counted as an absence for the purposes of determining whether the student has attended sufficient classes to receive course credit under this provision.

i.          For purposes of minimum attendance requirements, a student shall not be counted as present for a class if the student misses more than 10 minutes of class, whether through tardiness or early departure.

ii.          Students of compulsory attendance age suspended from school instruction may not be marked as absent unless they fail to attend scheduled alternative education on that day.

iii.         Students over the compulsory attendance age suspended from school instruction will be marked absent unless they have been assigned alternative education.  If alternative education has been assigned, only failure to attend scheduled alternative education shall count as an absence.

b.         Proper and timely notification will be given to all parents/students when the student is in danger of not receiving credit for a course/subject.  Measures the district will take include:

                        i.          parental notification in letter form indicating the attendance for credit policy as well as the student’s attendance history.

ii.          counseling sessions for the student and his/her parent(s) to devise an improvement plan

iii.         indication to the parents one month prior to the completion of the course if the student is in jeopardy of losing credit for failure to attend

iv.         teachers will provide makeup work upon request so that students who are in jeopardy of forfeiting class credits due to excused absences have the opportunity to earn credit for the course.   All students with an excused ATED are expected upon their return to consult with their teachers regarding missed work.  Only those students with excused ATEDs will be given the opportunity to make up a test or other missed work and/or turn in a late assignment for inclusion in their final grade.  Make up opportunities must be completed by a date specified by the student=s teacher for the class in question.

v.         where a student is in jeopardy of losing credit for excessive absences, the Building Principal shall be responsible for reviewing attendance records, determining eligibility for makeup work for excused absences, and arranging student makeup opportunities with teachers, including deadlines.

Disciplinary Procedures

The pupil may be subject to disciplinary procedures for unexcused absence, tardiness, or early departure, including verbal and written warnings, detentions, in-school suspensions, and loss of extra-curricular privileges, as described in the Code of Conduct.

In addition, designated staff member(s) will contact the student=s parents and the student=s guidance counselor.  Such staff member(s) shall remind parents of the attendance policy, explain the ramifications of unexcused ATEDs, stress the importance of class attendance and discuss appropriate intervention strategies to correct the situation.

Incentives

District teachers shall work with the Building Principal and Attendance Officer to create and implement classroom based incentive programs for excellent attendance, including but not limited to extra credit and additional privileges and individual recognition.  A student’s class participation grade will be positively affected by fewer unexcused ATED’s.

Attendance/Grading Policy

The Board of Education recognizes an important relationship between class attendance and student performance.  Consequently, each marking period a student=s final grade may be based on classroom participation as well as student=s performance on homework, tests, papers, projects, etc.

Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes.  Consistent with the importance of classroom participation, unexcused ATED=s will affect a student=s class participation grade for the marking period.

Intervention Strategy Development

The Building Principal shall meet each marking period with the Attendance Officer and other administrators and teachers as the Principal determines necessary to review student attendance records, address identified patterns of unexcused pupil absence, tardiness and early departure, and review current intervention methods.  Where the Principal determines that existing intervention policies or practices are insufficient, the Principal shall notify the Board of Education prior to its annual review of the building=s attendance records, of both insufficient practices and any proposed changes needed Board approval to implement.