Oswego County

Guidance for 4410 Attendance Notification

This guide has been developed to create some consistency in addressing lacking attendance for children who attend 4410 SCIS programs. There are a limited number of slots in Special Class – Integrated Setting programs. There has been an increase in the number of children who have been attending program for less than 50% of the time for a variety of reasons. At times, the program administration must contact parents/guardians regarding persistent absenteeism and subsequently notify the CPSE of the issue to potentiallybe addressed through the committee. A program may not dismiss a child for lack of attendance. Any change to a child’s program is a committee decision.

The following provides some guidelines for determining when attendance is an issue and steps to address it, utilizing the 4410 Attendance Notification Form.

Attendance is an issue when:

  • the child has not been attending consistently, not just missing for a week and then back for a few weeks
  • the child’s rate of absenteeism reaches _25_% of time over a __3__ week period
  • the program has been unable to contact the parent/guardian to obtain reasons for the absences

Steps to address a child’s lack of attendance:

  1. Record dates of absences on the 4410 Attendance Notification form
  2. For each recorded absence, document on the Notification form:
  3. dates of attempts to contact the parent/guardian regarding individual recorded absences
  4. method used to attempt to contact (phone, email, in person, home visit, etc.)
  5. result of the attempt
  6. reason for the absence provided by the parent/guardian
  7. calculate the percentage of absences over the time period and record
  8. When the child has missed at least _25_ % of program time over __3__ weeks and the program is unable to obtain satisfactory reasons for the individual absences from the parent/guardian by phone, email or in person;the program should contact the CPSE Chairperson regarding the child’s attendance issues and the program’s plan to address this with the parent/guardian formally.
  9. The program should initiate formal written attempts to contact the parent/guardian regarding the child’s program attendance. Each writtenletter to the parent/guardian must detail:
  10. The number of attempts made: 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
  11. The reason for the contact
  12. The action that may be taken
  13. Record of formal written attempts to contact the parent/guardian regarding program attendance should be attached to and documented on the Notification form including:
  14. The date of the letter
  15. The outcome/response from parent/guardian (phone contact indicating reason for absences, meeting with parent, plan of action developed, no response, etc.)
  16. Upon response from the parent/guardian, a Plan of Action should be developed between the program and the parent/guardian to improve the child’s attendance. This plan should include a clear, written description of the expectations for the child’s attendance, any possible supports needed to assist the parent/guardian, and the consequence should the child’s attendance fall below the expectations detailed within the plan. For example: A possible attendance improvement plan might include expectations such as the child will attend _(8)_ days over a _(2 week)_ period for _(4)_ weeks consistently. The plan should be reviewed at the end of the set timeframe with the parent/guardian for compliance. According to the plan:
  17. Satisfactory attendance will continue to be reviewed as agreed upon in writing for continued compliance.
  18. Unsatisfactory attendance shall be reported to the CPSE in order for the committee to schedule a meeting with the parents/guardians regarding possible changes to the child’s placement/programming.
  19. Should the program not receive a satisfactory response from the parent/guardiannor be able to develop a plan of action within the program, the program administration must contact the CPSE Chairperson regarding the child’s attendance issues and lack of communication or compliance from the parent/guardian to request that the committee convene a meeting to discuss the child’s placement/program. The Notification form and supporting documented attempts to contact the parent/guardian should be forwarded to the CPSE Chairperson and the Municipality and recorded on the Notification form.
  20. The CPSE should then initiate appropriate communication from the district to the parent/guardian toconvene a meeting to discuss any potential changes to the child’s program/placement; utilizing the child’s attendance record, the program’s attempts to contact the parent/guardian, and any data gathered as part of the Action Plan to improve attendance. Possible changes to the child’s IEP may include, but are not limited to, a change to related services only.
  21. The CPSE should document on the bottom of the Notification Form the date of the CPSE meeting to address attendance issues and the outcome of this meeting. A copy of the completed form should be forwarded back to the program and the municipality along with the amended IEP, as appropriate.

2013