STUDENT ATTENDANCE POLICY
Objective:
1. To promote regular and punctual student attendance.
2. To clearly communicate to school personnel, students, parents, and the district residents, the School District of Glenwood City’s expectations regarding student attendance.
3.To comply fully with state laws related to compulsory school attendance and truancy.
4.To establish procedures and responsibilities for school personnel, students, and parents to follow in matters relating to student attendance.
Regular and punctual student attendance is an important factor in success at school. All children in the district who are between the ages of six and eighteen shall attend school regularly, and during the full period and hours that school is in session, to the end of the school year. Furthermore, students shall attend school until the end of the quarter, semester, or term in the school year in which the child becomes eighteen years of age unless they are excused or have graduated from high school.
Parents or guardians are responsible for their child’s regular and punctual school attendance. The school district will assist the parents/guardians with this important responsibility by communicating with them about current attendance status. Where appropriate, the school district will provide assistance to parents in promoting regular attendance. In situations where regular attendance has not been achieved, the school district will refer the student and parents to the county authorities as a violation of the state truancy law.
The school district administration shall be responsible for determining and implementing the rules and procedures for complying with the state laws. These rules and procedures shall be approved by the school board prior to use.
Return to School Procedure
1. The parent or guardian of the absent student calls the school office at 265-4266 or 265-4231 before 10:30 a.m. on the day of the absence. The office needs the name of the student and the reason for the absence. In some cases, the school will attempt to contact the parents or guardians of absent students if no call is received by the above time. A note, in place of a phone call, will be accepted in the office on the morning the student returns from the absence. Failure to provide the office with acceptable written verification of the absence within twenty -four hours of returning to school will result in an unexcused absence (truant).
2.The student reports to the office on the morning of the first day after the absence. The office will issue a make-up slip with an indication that the absence is excused or unexcused.
3.Show the make-up slip to all your teachers. Make-up work will be issued. Students will have one day for every day of absence except in the situation where the only activity missed was a test. In this case, the student will take the test on the first day back from the absence.
Absence – Prearranged Procedure
1.Parents are authorized to excuse their child from school attendance for any reason, up to a maximum of 10 days in a school year, provided they notify the school in writing prior to the absence. Students shall complete course work missed during the absence.
2.If approval is granted, an “Advance Make-Up Slip” will be issued.
3.The student presents this slip to all his/her teachers, obtains the advance assignments, completes the required work and returns it to the teacher. The teacher will then sign the slip. After all the work is turned in, and all the signatures are completed, the slip is returned to the office. This is to be done BEFORE you leave.
Tardiness
1.Elementary: The office will issue tardy slips during school hours plus the parent/guardian signs the student in.
2.Middle/Senior High: The office will issue tardy slips for each period of the day. A discipline referral will be made for all office issued unexcused tardies. All office tardies will be unexcused (truant) unless a phone call is received before the student arrives or brings a note, signed by the parent or guardian, upon arriving in the office. All unexcused tardies (truancies) will be a part of the record in any truant referral made by the school. The office reserves the right to accept or reject any reason for repeated tardies and will apply the same rules to tardies as it does for absences.
Absences and Truancy
If any absence is considered a truancy, suspension or detention may be applied as described in the Suspension section.
Students leaving school at any time must sign out in the office before leaving. Otherwise, this may be an unexcused absence and disciplinary action may result.