HOMEROOM AND ATTENDANCE PROCEDURES
Students should never be allowed to take attendance in homeroom or in class.
The New York State Board of Regents
requires that accurate attendance be taken each day in homeroom and in every
class.
THE TEACHER is responsible for taking accurate attendance in homeroom. Students should never take attendance.
7:35AM
--- Faculty in building
7:40AM ---
All classrooms
open (All staff, whether they have homeroom or not should have their
classroom open and be supervising the halls.
7:52AM ---
Bell for students
to report to homeroom
7:55AM --- Students in
homeroom
-- Attendance taken by
teacher
-- Students arriving after
7:55 AM must have a pass from the receptionist.
TARDY TO SCHOOL
A student is tardy to school if they arrive at homeroom after the 7:55 bell.
A student who is late to homeroom is tardy to school.
If a student is tardy to school, he/she must have a
late pass from the lobby receptionist. A student tardy to school/
homeroom should not be allowed into homeroom/ class without this pass.
PROCEDURE FOR EXCUSES
Students should turn in their excuses prior to reporting to homeroom.
(1)Excuses for absences are turned in to the attendance office where they are
filed. (2) When a student returns
after an absence he/she has 3 days to bring their excuse to the Attendance
Office. (The first is the day they return, followed by the next 2 consecutive
days.)
ATTENDANCE
Since poor attendance and lack of
punctuality are frequent causes of failure in school and in life, the following
policy is instituted:
Students must meet the minimum standards of attendance to receive credit for
courses in which they are enrolled.
In order to obtain academic credit for a course, a student must be in attendance
at the time that a class is scheduled.
Therefore, the attendance policy does not differentiate between excused
and unexcused absences. When a
student is failing a course due to academic deficiencies, he/she will receive a
failing numerical grade. Students
may be denied credit in a course if they exceed the following guidelines:
The Commissioner of Education has ruled
that parental consent to a student's absence does not preclude the school
district from enforcing its attendance policy against the student for violating
the district's attendance policy. A school board can establish rules concerning
the order and discipline of the schools, as it may deem necessary.
These rules are not subject to parental consent.
Maximum Absences:
Any student with more than 15 unexcused absences will be ineligible to take a final exam (half year courses = 8, science lab courses = 24). This will allow us to speak the same language in regards to encouraging students and parents to produce a legal note for an absence.
This policy applies to all students and all programs offered at
Final Exam
Ineligibility:
A student who exceeds the maximum number of absences will not be
allowed to take the final exam in the course.
The student will be notified one week before the end of the course
whether the student will be eligible for the final exam for the course.
A student who has exceeded the maximum number of absences will not
qualify for an exemption from the final exam.
The student will receive a zero for the final exam grade and the final
average will be determined by dividing the sum of the four quarterly grades by
five.
Summer School Ineligibility:
Students who have excessive absences may be denied the privilege of
attending summer school.
Students who exceed more than 20 days of absences in a full-year course, 10 days
for a half year course, or 25 days for a lab science course will not be allowed
to attend summer school for credit.
Excessive Tardies To School:
Excessive tardies to school will result in disciplinary
action.
On the third unexcused tardy to
school, students will receive a warning.
After the third unexcused tardy to school, detention may be assigned.
(Excused tardies are tardies due to personal illness, death in the
family, impassable roads, religious observance, quarantine, required court
appearances, attendance at health clinics, approved college visits, approved
cooperative work programs, military obligations.)
Notes from Parents:
When a student is absent, a note written by the parent explaining the
absence must be turned into the attendance clerk within 3 days of the absence
when students are entering the building in the morning. After 3 days, if no
written excuse is received the absence(s) will be marked as unexcused.
Students with (9) or more unexcused absences will have detention(s)
assigned for every unexcused absence after that.
Absences can only be recorded as "excused" upon receipt of a written
signed explanation from the parent for one of the reasons stated in the Excused
Tardies section. Students are
expected to assume the responsibility for turning in excuses in a timely manner.
When a student has accumulated 3 unexcused absences, the attendance
clerk will send home a written letter to the parents. This letter will state the
dates of the unexcused absences and the District's Attendance Policy.
Successive letters will be sent home every time the student accumulates 3
additional unexcused absences.
After 9 excused or unexcused tardies to school, the principal or
attendance clerk will contact the parent/ guardian to determine whether a
pattern or problem is present. At
this time, a doctor’s statement may be required for each additional tardy to
school.
Exempted Absences:
The following are to be considered exempted absences and will not be
counted as an absence for the purposes of implementing this policy.
However, these absences should still be specifically noted in the grade
book.
Music lessons which are scheduled in conjunction with a regular
course of study.
Appointments scheduled by Guidance or the Health Office.
Attendance at CSE, Child Study, or 504 meetings.
In - School Detention or Suspension from class or school when an
alternate, approved educational program has been used.
Other educationally related or school sponsored activities such as:
Field trips
Sports trips
Senior trip
State testing
College Interview
AP/ College Testing
Other reasons with the principal’s approval
Daily Attendance Procedures:
Attendance will be taken during homeroom.
Students who are not in their assigned rooms at this time will be
considered absent. If a student is
late to homeroom, they are considered tardy to school.
Attendance Records:
The record of each student’s presence, absence, tardiness and early
departures shall be kept in a register of attendance in a manner consistent with
the Commissioner’s Regulations. An
absence, tardiness or early departure will be entered as “excused” or unexcused”
along with the District’s code for the reason.
The actual number of absences, not just those counting toward the
maximum allowed, will appear on Interim reports and report cards.
Missing More Than 20 Minutes of a Class:
If a student is not in attendance for at least twenty minutes of class,
the student will be marked absent.
This absence will count toward the maximum number of absences allowed unless the
reason for the missed time is included in the Exempted Absences section
above.
Notifying Students and Parents:
In addition to the attendance reported on interim reports and report
cards, teachers will send notices home when a student reaches each 5-absence
increment and also reaches two-thirds of the maximum allowed absences.
Extending Opportunities To Make Up Missed
Work: It is the
student’s responsibility to complete missed work in a timely manner.
A student has the number of days absent plus one day to complete the
missed work. Teachers should make
themselves available to respond to questions from students about work missed.
Only those students with excused absences must be given the opportunity
to make up a test and/or turn in a late assignment for inclusion in the
calculation of the performance portion of their final grade.
The teacher is not obligated to extend the opportunity for makeup work
to students with unexcused absences.
Makeup opportunities may be denied to those with unexcused absences.
The nature of the make-up opportunity may also be dictated by the circumstances
surrounding the absence. For
example, students who miss a day due to a funeral, a court appearance or a
college interview will be required to make up the work.
For students who miss class because of a field trip, a teacher should
assess whether the trip itself can serve as a substitute for the classroom
instruction otherwise missed on that day.
If not, some other suitable make-up opportunity could be extended.
CLASS WORK MAKE UP PROCEDURES
Students who are absent due to illness will have the number of days absent + one
day to make up the work.