STUDENT ATTENDANCE

Regular attendance of students in school is in the personal interest of students and their parents and the professional interest of educators in the school system. A student cannot gain full benefit from the academic, social, physical and vocational education opportunities provided if his/her attendance is sporadic. Such a student may be at risk of failure to graduate from high school.

The law of the State of Ohio requires that school attendance shall be
compulsory from age 6 through 18. Kindergarten attendance is considered
mandatory. Students, parents and school officials have a legal obligation
to abide by and enforce the State attendance law.

ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL NOTIFICATION BY PARENT/GUARDIAN

It is the responsibility of the parent to notify school personnel before the start of each day that the student is absent. This notification may be done by telephone or by a written note delivered to school. A phone call to the Attendance or School Office is only for notification. This does not excuse an absence. Written documentation is required upon return to school within 24 hours of absences.

Reasons for which students may be medically excused include, but are not limited to:

personal illness of the student;
illness in the student’s family necessitating the presence of the child;
quarantine for contagious disease or
emergency or other set of circumstances in which the judgment of the principal constitutes a good and sufficient cause for absence from school, which may include but not be limited to absences due to documented medical appointments.

Reasons for which students may be non medically excused include, but are not limited to:

needed at home to perform necessary work directly and exclusively for parents or legal guardians for a limited period of time when approved by the Superintendent (applies to students over 14 years of age only);
death in the family (applies to absences of up to 18 school hours unless a reasonable cause may be shown for a longer absence);
observation of religious holidays consistent with a student's truly held religious belief;
traveling out of state to attend a Board-approved enrichment activity or extracurricular activity (applies to absences of up to 24 school hours);
college visitation;
absences due to a student's placement in foster care or change in foster care placement or any court proceedings related to their foster care status;
absences due to a student being homeless or
as determined by the Superintendent.

The District makes an attempt to contact the parent, guardian, or other person having care of a student who has not notified the school of the student’s absence that day regarding that student’s absence without legitimate excuse within 120 minutes of the start of the school day. The Board authorizes the Superintendent to determine and use the appropriate notification procedure and methods consistent with State law.

Each student who is absent must immediately, upon return to school, make arrangements with his/her teacher(s) to make up for missed work. Students who are absent from school for reasons not permitted by State law may, or may not, be permitted to make up work. Each case is considered on its merits by the building principal. Students who are absent due to an in-school or out-of-school suspension are permitted to make up missed classroom assignments in accordance with District level policies and procedures. Students are requested to bring a note to school after each absence explaining the reason for the absence or tardiness in accordance with procedures and timelines defined in District level policies and procedures.

The Board does not believe that students should be excused from school for vacations or other nonemergency trips. The responsibility for such absences resides with the parent(s), and they must not expect any work missed by their child to be retaught by the teacher. If the school is notified in advance of such a trip, reasonable efforts are made to prepare a general list of assignments for the student to do while he/she is absent.

The Board authorizes the Superintendent to establish a hearing and notification procedure for the purpose of denying a student’s driving privileges if that student of compulsory school age has been absent without legitimate excuse for more than 60 consecutive hours during a school month or a total of at least 90 hours during a school year.

ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

If you are absent from school during the day, you will not be permitted to participate in, or attend any school activities that afternoon or evening unless you have attended for more than half of the school day. This includes athletic events, practices, school plays, and rehearsals.

ILLEGAL ABSENCES FROM SCHOOL

An illegal absence or truancy is defined as any student absence for which school officials cannot verify a legal reason by means of credible student or parent statements, oral or written, and/or investigations by school officials. Any student absence about which no credible information has been received from parent/guardian shall be classified as an illegal absence or truancy. The Superintendent will determine if an absence is excused or unexcused in cases of inclement weather.

TRUANCY

The following corrective measures and penalties are possible for truants:

Detention
Saturday school
Isolated Learning Center
Parent meeting
Court Mediation
Referral to juvenile court

SCHOOL INTERVENTION

Students will be referred to the school attendance officers in cases of excessive truancy. A notice will be provided informing the student and their parent of the intervention date and time. This program is designed to help students, families, and the school work together to resolve attendance, academic, and/or behavior issues.

PENALTIES AND CORRECTIVE MEASURES FOR TRUANCY

A verified truancy from school or a class cut may result in disciplinary action including parent notification and referral to juvenile court.
In cases where the above measures fail to reverse the pattern of truancy, the district’s chief attendance officer should automatically pursue prosecution of truants and culpable parents through civil authorities. (See items below).
Superintendent’s expulsion for the remainder of the semester may be used in those cases where a pattern of excessive truancy persists even though there is substantial evidence that all available preventive and corrective measures have been responsibly applied.

HELP FOR PARENTS

Parents who want help with a student attendance problem are encouraged to call the school attendance officer, principal, and/or the counselor. Counseling with the school intervention team can be arranged through referral from either the principal or the chief attendance officer to the director of pupil personnel.