1. School attendance is essential to successful
school progress. Students who are in class, on time, everyday are more
likely to
do well in school and on the tests required for graduation.
2. By state statute, parents are responsible for making sure their children
attend school. Students may lose driving privileges and
other rights due to excessive absences. A student who has fifteen unexcused
absences within ninety calendar days is considered
truant.
3. When a student is absent, (s)he should bring a note signed by a parent or
guardian or other documentation explaining his/her
absence the day (s)he returns to school. The student is responsible for
showing the note or other documentation to each of
his/her teachers.
4. Teachers will give students with excused absences an appropriate amount of
time to make up missed work. It is the
student’s responsibility to make arrangements with the teacher to make up
missed assignments due to an excused absence. No
student may make up assignments missed due to an unexcused absence except
for a nine weeks or semester exam.
5. Excused absences include the following:
(a) Up to six days of
absences excused with a note signed by the student’s parent or guardian;*
(b) Documented
appointments with health care professionals;
(c) Documented
absences for religious instruction or religious holidays;
(d) Absences due to
participation in an academic class or school-sponsored activity approved
in advance by the principal or assistant principal; or
(e) Documented court
appearances.
6. To have an absence excused by a teacher, a student must bring in a parent
note or other documentation within two days of
the absence. After six days of absences in an eighteen week semester are
excused with parent notes, the student must bring
other documentation to have an absence marked excused, regardless of the
reason. Absences not documented will be
considered unexcused and the student will not be able to make up missed
assignments. An out-of-school suspension is an
unexcused absence.
7. Any student who has more than six days of unexcused absences during a
semester will not receive credit unless the student
shows mastery of the course content by
(a) earning a passing grade for the semester, AND
(b) earning a passing grade on a comprehensive semester exam.
*Please note that parents may write notes to excuse only six days of absences
per semester. Once six days have been excused
with parent notes, other documentation will be needed to excuse an absence
-- regardless of the reason.
Students may make up work only for excused absences.
