SUBJECT:
SUMMARY OF COMPREHENSIVE STUDENT ATTENDANCE POLICY (#7110)
Effective 6/22/2004
Statement of Overall
Objectives
The
a)
To increase school completion for all students;
b)
To raise student achievement and close gaps in student performance;
c)
To identify attendance patterns in order to design attendance improvement
efforts;
d)
To know the whereabouts of every student for safety and academic reasons;
e)
To verify that individual students are complying with education laws
relating to compulsory attendance;
f)
To determine the District’s average daily attendance for State aid
purposes.
Determination of Excused
and Unexcused Absences, Tardiness and Early Departures
a)
Excused:
An absence, tardiness or early departure may be excused if due to
personal illness, illness or death in the family, impassable roads due to
inclement weather, religious observance, quarantine, required court appearances,
attendance at health clinics, approved college visits, approved cooperative work
programs, military obligations, approved educational trips, or other such reason
as may be approved by the Board of Education. (Absences or tardiness for these
reasons will be excused upon receipt of a written, signed explanation from the
parent or verified doctor’s note).
b)
Unexcused:
An absence, tardiness or early departure is considered unexcused if the
reason for the lack of attendance does not fall into the above categories (e.g.,
family vacations, hunting, babysitting, haircut, work, oversleeping).
Student Attendance
Recordkeeping/Data Collection
The record of each student’s presence, absence, tardiness and early
departure shall be kept in a register of attendance in a manner consistent with
Commissioner’s Regulations. An
absence, tardiness or early departure will be entered as “excused” or
“unexcused” along with the District code for the reason.
Student
Attendance/Course Credit
a)
Classroom Attendance (Grades 6-12)
The District believes that classroom attendance is related to and affects
a student’s performance and grasp of the subject matter and, as such, is
properly reflected in a student’s final grade.
Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes.
Unexcused student absences, tardiness, and early departures affect a
student’s classroom performance.
b)
Course Credit (Grades 9-12)
At the senior high school level, any student with more than 15 absences
in a full year course may not receive credit for the course.
For
Attendance Incentives
In order to encourage student attendance, the District will develop and
implement grade-appropriate/building-level strategies.
These may include, but are not limited to:
a)
Exemplary attendance certificates will be provided to students with 3 or
less excused absences and no unexcused absences or tardies;
b)
Monthly drawings for prizes at each grade level to reward perfect
attendance;
c)
Grade-level rewards at each building for best attendance;
d)
Classroom acknowledgement of the importance of good attendance (e.g.,
individual certificates, recognition chart, bulletin boards);
e)
Annual poster/essay contest on importance of good attendance;
f)
Assemblies collaboratively developed and promoted by student council,
administration, PTA/PTO and other community groups to promote good attendance.
Disciplinary
Consequences
Unexcused absences, tardiness and early departures will result in
disciplinary sanctions as described in the District’s Code of Conduct.
Community Awareness
The Board of Education shall promote necessary community awareness of the
District’s Comprehensive Student Attendance Policy by:
a)
Providing a plain language summary of the policy to parents or person in
parental relation to students at the beginning of each school year and promoting
the understanding of such a policy to students and their parents/persons in
parental relation;
b)
Providing each teacher, at the beginning of the school year or upon
employment, with a copy of the policy; and
c)
Providing copies of the policy to
any other member of the community upon request.